Twisted Love
by fanofNC
Summary: All canon ships included! A lonely girl joins the Selection just to spite her stepmother. A prince wishes to find his princess. Will she make it to the end? Will he find out who she really is? And how do the other eight get caught into the story? Formerly called "Selection AU". Title to the curtesy of captainquinnzel!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: We do not own the Lunar Chronicles. All rights to Marissa Meyer.**

 **Cinder**

Cinder was bored out of her mind.

Currently, she was sitting in the living room with Adri, Pearl, and Peony gathered around the glass table. They were chatting loudly, and Cinder wasn't quite sure why she was here to begin with.

"I've picked up the forms," Adri said excitedly, waving the vanilla envelopes around in the air. Pearl and Peony squealed loudly and took it in their hands. Pearl snatched up the paper immediately. Peony smelled the crisp, cream-colored envelope and breathed deeply, letting out a sigh of content.

"The Selection," Pearl and Peony breathed in unison.

Adri nodded. She clapped her hands together, brisk manner back. "Right. Chop chop, dears. Fill out the forms."

That was the first time that Adri seemed to notice that Cinder was sitting there. She glared over at her, lifting up her bizaare, green colored dress. She made her way towards Cinder gracefully.

"Cinder," she said with clear distaste. "Why don't you… go out to the market to get something for us?" The real message was clear. _We don't want you here._ Cinder pursed her lips, trying to keep her anger in check.

"But… I want to witness the Selection," she mumbled quietly. Adri cocked her head towards her.

"You have no place here," Adri snapped with a razor sharp tone. Cinder winced away from the unpleasant noise. She leaned forward until she was eye to eye with the maid. "Don't you _dare_ think, even for a second, that you will ever be in the Selection," she hissed.

Cinder felt a boiling rage rise up inside of her, roiling in her stomach and making her fists clench. If she didn't walk out now, she was sure her hand would end up slapping Adri's face. So she stood up abruptly, head lowered. Grabbing the basket from the nearby table, she growled, "Right. I'll be going now."

She stomped past Adri, who had a feline smile plastered on her face. When Cinder walked out the door, she was able to catch an apologetic glance from Peony. She offered a small smile and shook her head. Closing the door, she made her way down the sidewalk.

Finding the market was easy. It was filled with people bustling around, busy trying to buy things and sell things. It also helped that Cinder worked there. As she walked towards the fruit section, she spotted her mechanic stand, squished in between two obnoxious clothing shops. The curtain was pulled down over the window.

In addition to the people here to buy products, there were also the people who were here to watch the Selection on television. Most of them didn't have one handy at home, so they flocked to different stores to watch it.

It stung for Cinder to see it. She couldn't even _sign up_ , for goodness sake. Another burst of anger made its way to her chest. She stifled it, taking deep breaths.

Stopping in front of a fruit stand, Cinder set down the basket and picked up different apples, searching for bruises and discoloration.

Suddenly, she felt a nudge from her right shoulder. Glancing over, uninterested, her eyes brushed over a familiar golden badge. She did a double take, eyes wide and settled on the badge that signified the court of the kingdom of Commonwealth. Slowly, she looked up until she saw his face.

It was a court official with kind, gray eyes and a bright smile, wrinkles crinkling up around his eyes.

"Young lady, would you like to join the Selection?" he asked. His gloved hands held dozens of the familiar envelopes. Cinder shook her head immediately, hands up and waving back and forth.

"Really, I couldn't-" Wait. She paused. Adri wasn't here. Nobody was here to stop her from applying. And really, what were the chances, out of millions of girls from all over the kingdom, that she would even get chosen? With a smile, she nodded vigorously. "Thank you," she said, slipping one of the forms out from his hands.

He smiled again, nodding. Then he walked away, blending in with the gigantic crowd. Cinder stared in wonder at the paper resting in her hands. She couldn't believe it. Letting out a choked laugh, she sat herself down at a nearby table.

Slipping the form out of the envelope, she took out a black pen that was almost out of ink. She read it over.

"Name," Cinder read out loud. _Linh Cinder_. "Caste." She pursed her lips as she wrote down her caste, which was really down the ladder. _6_. "Job." _Maid? Mechanic?_ She put down both.

This went on until she filled out the entire form. Afterwards, she read over the entire thing, eyebrows furrowing as she kept reading everything she had written. She groaned at the end result, oil stained fingers tugging at her messed up hair. If this were a college application, she doubted any university would want to take her in.

Who said that they would even consider her after reading _this_? But it didn't matter. Cinder cleared her head of the negative thoughts and took out the seal from inside the envelope. It was blood-red and had calligraphy scrawled in golden ink on it. _Commonwealth_.

Cinder took the finished form and put it inside the envelope. As she stamped the seal onto the flap to seal the envelope, she couldn't help but think that she had also sealed her future. Well, if she got selected.

Whistling, she headed back to her booth to continue her work for the day. Chang Sacha had a broken air conditioner she had to have fixed before tomorrow. Besides, she usually got more work throughout the day, and she wanted to get home early so she could watch the Selection in the marketplace.

Sighing, she resumed her work on the dirty old air conditioner. It was covered in grease, and reeked of mold. Air conditioners aren't too expensive, and Sacha's shop was flourishing, so Cinder wondered why she can't just replace it. Thank the stars she actually had a legitimate excuse to leave the market early today.

* * *

 **Rikan**

"She's _what_?" The crown prince's voice could be heard echoing through the corridors. "You've got to be joking. _Now_? When the Selection is about to happen?"

Rikan sighed. It had taken him long enough to convince Kai to hold the Selection. The boy insisted that he could find love on his own, though they both knew that as he barely got to leave the castle walls, it was impossible. "Kai, she wants to visit-"

"And negotiate some sort of a _treaty_. Yeah, I know." Kai glared at his father.

"Kai, you know that she holds a lot of power in her hands. It would be great to have her on our side."

"Father. We both know very clearly that she would like to achieve that by marriage."

"Yes. And since you see that so clearly, tell me why you're fighting it so much? What is it that you have against Queen Levana of Luna?" Kai's burning gaze pierced through the emperor, but he didn't seem fazed at all. Years of court training had certainly built up a wall.

"What do I have against her?" Kai hissed, his voice shaking with anger. He sighed dramatically. "Right, where do I start? She's manipulative, she cares too much about her appearance, she only wants to marry me for the power…" He ticked off the reasons on his fingers, throwing a side glance at his father. "Should I go on?" he asked sarcastically. Emperor Rikan pursed his lips.

Kai huffed loudly. "And might I add, she wants to form a treaty by marriage? For goodness' sake, the _Selection_ is a program to get me to marry someone!" The emperor gave him a stern look, holding up a hand. Kai immediately shut his mouth, gazing at his father distastefully.

"She will come to visit us, whether you like it or not," Rikan seethed quietly. "You will put up with her, assume your courtly matter." He whipped around, luxurious clothes swishing around his ankles. "That's it. No more arguments." He marched out the door.

Rikan sighed again to himself. _What is wrong with this generation?_ When he was a young prince, he had no choice but to hold the Selection. It was there that he found his princess. As for Levana, the only negative part about her marrying Kai was that she was at least fifteen years older than him. But she was a smart, beautiful woman, and she was always courteous to his court. She also took Kai out privately pretty often.

 _Which means she could be two-faced,_ said a little voice in his head. _Maybe Kai saw her real side_. But it was unlikely, really. But who knows? People in Luna were mysterious.

 **Please comment!**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: We do not own the Lunar Chronicles. All rights to Marissa Meyer.**

 **Cinder**

Cinder walked into the house with nothing in her basket at all. That may have been a bad idea. From the moment Adri heard the door shut, she marched up towards the maid, dress hiked up her knees. She eyed the empty basket.

"What were you doing out there?" Adri cried indignantly, grabbing the basket before Cinder could process what was happening.

"Um… I - I was…" Cinder stuttered. Adri held up a hand, silencing her protests.

"You obviously weren't doing anything productive," Adri drawled, tossing the empty basket to the side. Cinder waited for a long lecture, but Adri simply said, "Fine. As long as you weren't doing anything _stupid_." A picture of the Selection form flashed in Cinder's mind. She gulped.

Inching around her guardian's imposing form, she let out a nervous chuckle. "Right. Thank you, miss. I'll…" she hesitated, searching for an excuse. Then, finding one, she nodded vigorously. "I'll get to my room now. Have to, you know!" She barked out a fake laugh again, twiddling her fingers. "Fix some… machines, and… stuff!" With one last glance around, she dashed upstairs.

Rushing down the hallway and into her room, she slammed the door close behind her. Letting out a sigh of relief, she sank against the door. With a loud, mechanic whir, her android spun around. Its lights flashed.

Cinder sighed and sat down next to it. "You won't believe what I just did," she sighed, burying her fingers in her hair. The android's circular head twisted to the side. "I signed up for the Selection."

"Well," the android said in a monotone voice. "You're doomed."

* * *

With a loud fanfare, the show started for the Selection.

"CINDER!" Peony shouted from downstairs, hands cupped around her mouth. Cinder rushed out of her room, peeking over the banister. She raised an eyebrow. Peony smiled up at her. "Come! We're watching the Selection!"

A burst of excitement rose in Cinder's chest. Nodding vigorously, she basically jumped down the stairs, much to Peony's amusement. Once she reached the first floor, Peony latched onto her arm. "We're going to see Kai!" she sang. Cinder rolled her eyes.

"It's only on television, Peony," Cinder gently reminded her. Peony sighed dreamily.

"Right. But it's _Kai_!" She sighed once again and skipped towards the living room. Cinder let out a soft chuckle and sat down on a separate, uncomfortable wooden chair. From the look on Adri's and Pearl's face, it was clear that Cinder was only sitting here because Peony had insisted.

Adri turned on the television and sat back, letting out an ear piercing squeal with Pearl as the crown prince stepped onto the tall podium. Cinder winced at the noise but struggled not to rub her ears. Peony shot her a pitiful look.

"Hello, people of Commonwealth," Kai said smoothly into the microphone. The two annoying pair squealed again. However, this time, Peony barely kept in a loud shout herself. "We're gathered here today to witness the choosing of the Selection." The live crowd around him let out loud cheers.

Kai stepped smoothly to the side, revealing a gigantic machine. It was in the shape of a ball, a narrow slot with a swinging door the only entrance inside. He gestured inside of it, his hand faltering for one second.

Most people hadn't seen it, but being strangely perceptive, Cinder caught it. She narrowed her eyes at the seemingly calm and collected prince and looked into his eyes through the television. They were dancing around nervously, dull and bored. This made her wonder: Was the Selection his choice?

But his facade came back up again, and there was no crack in his mask. Cinder wondered if she were simply imagining things.

"I'll pick 35 girls from this. All of the entries are put in here!" He pointed to the machine again. The camera panned to the Emperor, who was staring at his son with a rather proud look on his face. Kai stepped away from the podium and next to the machine. He stared for a while, doing nothing but standing. He shot his father another flash of an uncertain look.

The Emperor glared at him sternly. Heaving a sigh, Kai put up a strained smile again. "Alright, subjects of Commonwealth. I will be choosing the 35 ladies now." He reached one arm into the slot. It came back out clutching a vanilla envelope. He opened it slowly.

"Jacqueline Francette Olivier. A four!" he announced grandly. A picture of a blonde girl popped up. She had sharp features and stunning green eyes with a bold smile. Kai handed off the form to a servant who was waiting nearby. Reaching in again, he took out the next envelope.

"Mirella Masi! A six," he continued. Another picture came up. It showed a brunette with unruly, curly hair. Light freckles dusted her cheeks and nose, displayed with a timid grin.

"Chiyoko Mori! A two." Cinder raised her eyebrows at that, but when the picture came up in the corner, she was truly stunned. The girl was gorgeous. She had shiny, dark black hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her nose was petite and her lips were full. Her complexion was smooth and light, but what stood out the most were her eyes. They were small and a bit pulled at the corners, narrowing into a suspicious glance, as if she didn't trust the cameraman. They were blue and dusted with golden flecks scattered around like bird seed.

"Tamaya Jacira! A three." This girl was also extremely beautiful. While the girl's features before had been soft, Tamaya's was sharp and harsh. She had high cheekbones and large eyes, long eyelashes casting shadows on her face. Her eyebrows were elegantly arched, and her lips curled into a shy smile. Her complexion was tan and her eyes were a deep chocolate brown.

Cinder was still gawking when the next girl was announced. "Scarlet Benoit! A seven!" Something about her name made Cinder snap up. She waited impatiently to see her picture. It showed a girl with messy hair. Messy, extremely BRIGHT RED hair, might she add. Her skin was pale, like you could see the veins underneath her. Her eyes were wide and her lips curled in a confident smirk, like she was daring you to come near.

Cinder cocked her head in amusement. Huh. Kai reached in once again, taking out a neatly sealed envelope. He proceeded to rip it open savagely.

"Pearl Linh!" he announced. Adri and Pearl jumped up, yelling and hugging each other. Adri threw her papers up in the air, which Cinder knew that she would have to clean up and organize later.

"This is the hot ticket, girls!" Adri crowed.

This went on for a while. Kai picked an envelope. They announced the girl, and their picture was shown. Finally, the last picking had come. "This is the last one," Kai announced. As if the audience didn't know already. They were strangely silent, everybody who hadn't been chosen crossing their fingers in hope that they would be the last one.

"And the special lady is…" He reads it, then looks up at the camera. A dramatic pause. "CINDER LINH!" The maid jumps up at the mention of her name. Pearl and Adri freeze up. Peony jumps up with her and hugs her, kissing both cheeks, congratulating her. The two annoying pair slowly swivel their heads to face her.

"You… entered the Selection?!" Adri asked, her voice rising with each word. Peony let go, finally realizing how furious her mother was.

"Mother, she has a right to," Peony warned. Adri glared at her with all the ferocity of a tiger. Cinder gulped. But even through Adri's blinding anger, something else showed up. Her lips curled into a dangerous, sly smile. Cinder didn't like the look on her face one bit.

"It's fine," Adri drawled, waving it off with one curled finger. "It's not like Prince Kai will choose a peasant you anyways. You're just a measly _nobody_." She leaned closer and jabbed a finger into Cinder's chest. With one last snarl, Adri whipped around and stomped away.

Pearl walked out after her, nearly as mad. But Peony stayed. She threw a sidelong glance at Cinder, who still had a slightly dazed look on her face.

"You know what, Cinder?" Peony asked, face scrunched in concentration. She grabbed the girl by the shoulder and shook her around. "I like you better. BEAT THEM." With that, she walked away.

 **Please comment!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Peony**

It's pretty depressing to not be able to meet the prince of your dreams in person.

Especially when two out of the three people in her family got to go.

Peony didn't really care that Pearl got in. To be completely honest, her sister doesn't have a single chance with Prince Kaito. _Her_ Prince Kaito.

Cinder, on the other hand, has a much better chance than Pearl, in her personal opinion. Peony has always cared more about her adoptive sister than her real sister, so when Cinder got chosen for the Selection, she felt more happy than she had been in a long time.

It was the day after Cinder and Pearl had been chosen. Naturally, Pearl had been prettied up to her full extent. And obviously, Cinder had helped with the makeup, the hair, the dress, and basically everything else. In the end, Pearl had completely transformed from a bratty noble to a surprisingly regal looking lady.

Peony kept shooting pitiful glances at Cinder the whole time, because even though she had helped with the entire process, she wasn't able to be ready herself. Instead, she was still dressed in the loose rags that had been dulled by repeated washings every day. Her hair was ratty and tangled, grease smudged over her face and arms.

Looking at her, Peony would have none of it. Dragging Cinder into her tiny excuse of a room in the attic, she locked the door behind her, making sure her mother wasn't waiting behind the door like the creepy stalker she was.

She couldn't help but let out a loud huff as she observed Cinder's disheveled state. The maid could only stare blankly at her stepsister who was studying her so insistently. She had no idea what this was all about.

"No, no, no, no, no," Peony kept muttering as she rotated around Cinder's form, lifting various parts of her dirty clothes. "This won't do. You're meeting Prince Kai!" Puffing her chest out and grabbing the front of her luxurious dress, she lifted her chin to meet Cinder's clueless gaze. "If you're going to be a queen, then at least dress like one!"

Cinder let out a small chuckle. "What makes you think I would win so early in the game?" she teased. Peony shot her a look.

"You _have_ to," she simply replied. Grinning, she whipped out a intricately wrapped golden box. Tossing the lid to the corner, she gestured for Cinder to take it out. Once she saw it, she let out a breath of wonder. Lifting the gift from the box slowly, she gazed at it in awe.

It was a beautiful baby blue, beautifully simple. The blue complimented Cinder's brown eyes, and a lace embroidery showed trailing down the torso and lining the dress' bottom. The sleeves were long and cuffed, and the neckline dipped low. The fabric was soft and felt like satin.

The first thing that popped in Cinder's mind was: This must have been awfully expensive. Peony peeked under Cinder's amazed gaze, grinning wildly.

"So… do you like it?" she cooed. The maid managed a nod. "Good! I knew you would," Peony continued, dragging Cinder into the bathroom. Without further ado, she grabbed a rough towel and drenched it in water. She ferociously scrubbed at the grease stains on Cinder's face.

"Ow- Peony! OW!" Cinder yelped as the towel scraped against her soft skin.

"Beauty is pain," Peony chirped, keeping at it. Once she was done, Cinder was clean, but her skin was red from all of the scrubbing. Then she grabbed the sneaked brush from under her full skirt.

She mercilessly tugged the brush through Cinder's hair. Almost immediately getting stuck, she tore Cinder's head along with it. However much she appreciated Peony's help, she did not enjoy the pain. But Peony did not give up until all of the tangles were eventually smoothed out.

"Wonderful!" Peony smiled when her hair was smooth and free. She grabbed one end and pulled it away from her head tightly, yanking it back.

"OW!" Cinder screamed for the hundredth time, helplessly watching bits and pieces of her hair come out of her head. Peony grabbed parts of her hair and weaved it into a French braid, sweeping it to the side and tying it together with a blue ribbon that matched the gown's color. Peony helped Cinder slip into the gown. The end result made Cinder look like an innocent, spoiled rich schoolgirl.

But it did make her look like royalty.

"Perfect!" Peony squealed, gripping the maid's shoulders tightly. She smiled slyly. "You're finally ready for Kai."

"Oh, Cinder, I'm going to miss you so much," Peony sobbed into Cinder's shoulder.

Cinder sighed. "It's not like _you_ won't see me. Everything is going to be on TV."

"But you won't be here to endure Mom with me. Who's going to fix my phone for me when it's broken?"

Cinder snorted. "There's a phone shop down the street."

"But it's not you," Peony whined. "You have to write to me, Cinder. I don't care if writing letters is old-fashioned."

"Alright," Cinder said, finally resigning to coping with Peony. "I'll write you letters every week."

A snort of laughter came from beside them. " _Letters?_ Are you from the nineteenth century? Who sends letters when you have the internet?"

Peony sighed. "Oh, Pearl, can't you see we're having our own conversation?"

"Besides," said Cinder, "have you ever heard of people sending love letters over the internet? There's a difference between actual paper and a screen." She turned back to Peony. "I will write you about everything in the palace, alright?"

Peony beamed. "Good."

Thump. Adri dropped Cinder's bag next to her and glared at her. "As much as I don't think you deserve to be in the Selection, you'd better not get kicked out in the first round. We get rations as long as you're in."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Yes, Adri. But it's not like I get to decide if I get kicked out or not," she added under her breath.

Peony was the only one that heard. "Oh, Cinder, I'm sure the prince will like you. To be honest," she lowered her voice, "I think Pearl will be kicked out sooner than you will."

Cinder snorted. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." She shook her head. "I actually want to stay on for a while just so I don't have to come back. No offense," she added, glancing at Peony.

Peony sighed. "I know what you mean. Mom is so mean to you that you would've thought you're her slave."

"Which she _is_ ," hissed Adri, who happened to hear Peony's last statement. "And she _will be_ until-"

A shadow fell on them from overhead. "Oh, it's the plane!" cried Peony. She turned and gave Pearl a brief hug before turning around to attack Cinder and pull her into a fierce hug. "Remember to write!"

"I will, Peony." Cinder laughed. "You gotta let me get on the plane though."

Peony wiped at a tear and handed Cinder her bag. "Be safe!"

"I know!" Cinder called as she walked into the terminal

* * *

 **Cinder**

As soon as she boarded the plane, Cinder couldn't help but stare. The whole plane was decorated in pink. There were seats arranged two by two in the middle, presumably for the contestants. On her way to the farthest pair of seats, Cinder bumped into a figure standing up from a seat.

"Ow!" cried the voice. It was girly and a bit snooty, Cinder noted. Turning, she recognized the girl from TV. _Chiyoko Mori_. "Watch where you're going! How could you treat someone so high class like me like that?" Chiyoko peered closely at her face. "In fact, I don't think you're as high classed as you look. Is the dress even yours?"

Cinder flushed with anger. "It doesn't matter what class I'm in for the Selection. As for my dress-"

"Stop. I'm not sure I want to talk to you. Leave. My. Presence."

"Like that's even possible on a plane." Cinder turned to continue her journey to the back of the plane when Chiyoko stuck out a foot to trip her. Cinder yelped and stumbled, catching herself on the seat at the last minute. She heard a muffled snicker from another participant. Cheeks flaming, she whipped around to save her dignity.

"Oh, one last thing," the Japanese beauty said, clamping a hand on Cinder's shoulder and squeezing. " _The prince is mine_ ," Chiyoko snarled. "Not that you have a chance, anyway." She let go.

When Cinder _finally_ made it to her seat, she promptly collapsed into it. Not a minute later, she felt taps on her shoulder. "Go away," she groaned, not even opening her eyes.

"If you thought I was that rude Japanese girl, then you probably don't have eyes at all," snarled a voice Cinder didn't recognize. The girl was a redhead, and was glaring at her.

"I'm sorry," Cinder said. "Do you want to sit here?"

The girl looked at her for a while. "Tell me your name, and be honest when you answer my next question: Do you scream when our _dear Prince Kaito_ comes out on TV?"

Cinder snorted. "My name is Cinder Linh, and no, I don't scream."

The redhead gave a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm Scarlet Benoit. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

 **And so Scarlet joins! Please review! Thank you, Guest, for commenting on the first chapter! We appreciate it! Don't worry, there'll be Kaider and Wolflet and Cresswell and Jacinter and Kiko. Tell us which you like best! We'll try to put in more of it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Cinder**

"Wow," Cinder breathed when she walked into the palace. Suddenly, from her right shoulder, she felt a shove. Yelping quietly while stumbling forward, she caught herself from nearly falling. She glanced up at the person who had pushed her.

Chiyoko Mori let out a haughty huff and smirked, turning her head back around and marching forward, five maids taking her luggage.

"She's a total SANDY BEACH once you get to know her, don't worry," Scarlet said with a roll of her eyes, lending a hand. Cinder looked up and took it, sighing and dusting off the expensive blue dress that Peony had specifically bought for her. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.

"I can already tell she's not exactly sugar sweet," Cinder muttered to the bright redhead.

Scarlet snorted, which was so unladylike that Cinder had to do a double take. If Scarlet had noticed it, she didn't show it. "You can say that again," she agreed. She waved the maid forward. "Come on. We have to catch up." She gestured to the rest of the girls, bunching around the staircase, waiting for the two trailing behind.

"We can't spend all day gawking," Chiyoko drawled in a bored tone, the hideous smirk working its way back up. Cinder gnashed her teeth but sped up anyways. Something about Chiyoko's smirk just made her want to slap her mouth right off of her pretty little face.

So when Scarlet and Cinder passed her, she couldn't help but just give her a little shove. "Oh!" Chiyoko exclaimed with exaggeration, stumbling with a shocked expression on her face. Cinder threw a smirk that rivaled the two's behind her shoulder.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," she said in a fake sympathetic voice. She narrowed her eyes, the same expression that matched the photo shown on the television. A threat. Scarlet shook Cinder out of it when she loudly whispered, "Look, our rooms!" Cinder looked up to see a hallway of doors, blindingly white with edges of shining gold.

"Ladies, here are your rooms," Torin said, his gloved hands gesturing towards the rooms. "You will find your name carved into the wood on the door. Thank you, I hope you enjoy your stay, and have a good day." With a curt bow, he turned the corner and walked away.

Wow. Cinder couldn't believe it. Her own room? And not only that, but her name carved onto the door! When she stood in front of the door, setting her hand on the ornately carved doorknob, excitement bubbled up in her chest. _This is mine, and only mine,_ she thought.

With a bright smile, she pushed open the door. Right when she spotted the beautiful interior, she let out a huge gasp.

"I know, I know," came a voice from behind the door. Taken by surprise, Cinder jumped. A beautiful petite girl stepped out from behind the corner of her bed, wearing a crisp black and white maid uniform. Her hands were also covered with lacy white gloves. She held a metal tray pressed to her torso, but what was most eye-catching was her bright blue hair. Despite the strict maid dresscode, she still found a way to make her hair the most stunning it can be. She bowed.

"Hello, miss. I believe you are Cinder Linh, correct?" Cinder nodded.

She smiled brightly and continued, "I'm Iko, and I'll be your personal maid for the length of the Selection," she paused for Cinder to take everything in.

"But going back to our conversation before, LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS ROOM!" She spun around. Cinder let out a slight giggle, immediately liking her maid.

"Alright," she said, walking over and plopping her tired body onto the bed. It bounced, lifting her body up a little bit. Cinder sighed and felt the soft sheets, head sinking into the plush pillows. She had never felt a bed so luxurious before. "I'm so tired, I think I'm just going to… go to sleep…"

Cinder looked to Iko for permission, not knowing if sleeping right now would interrupt some important meeting later. Iko shook her head. Cinder sighed in content and shut her eyes, already drifting into sleep. The bed was just that comfortable.

"I'll wake you up later, miss. The emperor may come to visit sometime soon," Iko reassured her. Cinder's eyes shot open. She sat up immediately, planting her hands onto the bed. Leaning forward, she exclaimed, "He's coming to _visit_?!"

Iko only smiled. "Yes, miss. He would like to get to know you a little bit." Cinder bit her bottom lip, worry eating her up. "Don't be nervous," Iko added, seeing her jittery nerves. "He's not going to judge you. He just wants to know the basics, like your name and your background."

 _Her background?_ Cinder groaned and threw herself back onto the bed. She grabbed a random pillow and stuffed it in her face, letting out a blood-curdling scream.

"What's wrong, miss?" Iko asked, a genuine concerned look on her face. Cinder flopped the pillow off of her.

"I don't exactly come from - what you would call - a high background," Cinder hesitated.

"Don't worry about it," Iko said, waving it off. "It doesn't matter. Anybody can win the Selection." Cinder pursed her lips, not entirely convinced. Iko gently pushed her shoulders back, making her lie on the bed. "Just sleep. It will be better when you wake up."

Cinder wanted to sit back up, to prepare for the visit from the emperor, but the cushions seemed to hug her tight, not letting her go. After a few tries, she gave up and sunk back into the bed. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and the last thing she heard was Iko bidding her a good nap.

Then she let sleep overcome her.

"Miss, wake up," Iko whispered, shaking Cinder's shoulders. Cinder groaned and rolled around, grabbing a pillow and stuffing it over her ears. Cautiously, Iko peeled away the pillow, revealing the sleeping girl's face. "Miss, the emperor is coming in five minutes!"

Cinder slowly sat up at the new announcement.

"Five minutes," she mused. Iko could basically see the gears turning in her head, wondering what she would do when he did come in and see her. Cinder turned to Iko immediately to see if she already had something in plan.

"Miss, I already have your gown prepared for you right here," Iko said coolly. Cinder turned to see an elegant gown set onto the bed waiting. She chuckled sheepishly as Iko raised an eyebrow. Hesitantly, she stripped down to her undergarments, trying hard not to wrap her arms around her body as Iko brought the dress to her.

It was a deep scarlet and sleeveless. It hugged her curves tightly, folds and sashes draping around her waist. The dress pooled at her ankles, flowing back behind her in a long train. Iko took a few seconds to brush through Cinder's hair, doing it up into a tight braid.

"Satisfied, miss?" Iko asked, meeting Cinder's eyes in the giant mirror.

"Very much," Cinder breathed, staring at her reflection. She couldn't believe it was her own reflection she was looking at. She still couldn't get used to how different she looked now than when she was just a simple maid in the Linh household.

As if on cue, three curt knocks on the door sounded. "That would be His Majesty," Iko said, shooting up and walking towards the door. Cinder stood up as well, standing next to her maid. She a deep breath and nodded at Iko.

The maid opened the door. Behind it stood Emperor Rikan. He looked smaller than he was on television. His white hair was neatly combed back, and a small mustache rustled when he smiled at Cinder.

"Hello, dear Cinder Linh," he greeted her. Iko opened the door wider, inviting the emperor inside. He gazed at the room momentarily, glancing over it harmlessly. However, Cinder couldn't help but feel jittery, hopping from foot to foot. Good thing she didn't notice his eyes harden a bit when seeing the state of her messy room. Iko gave her a look, and she struggled to still herself.

The emperor seated himself at the edge of her bed, which was still messed up from her afternoon nap. Cinder regretted not cleaning it up now. He patted the space next to him. Hesitating, Cinder reluctantly sat down next to him.

She almost fell off the bed from how nervous she was. She quickly tried to right herself, but the damage was done. Emperor Rikan's eyes hardened a little bit as they roved up and down her body, silently judging her with pursed lips. _Great job_ , Cinder, she groaned inwardly. When his eyes locked with hers, she could see judgement in them - clear distaste.

It was already clear to Cinder. Emperor Rikan DID NOT LIKE HER. She gulped as she met his intense gaze. They said nothing, and just sat there, the emperor judging her with his eyes, Cinder nothing more than a helpless prey under his glare.

Suddenly, he stood up again, doing a curt bow.

"Alright. I think I've seen enough," he said briskly, in a tone so bitter that it sent shivers rippling down Cinder's spine. It was so quick, and not low at all. Apparently Cinder didn't deserve any of his effort. "I'll be going now," he said quickly, edging towards the door. "Good day, my lady. I wish you the best of luck in the Selection."

The door slammed. Cinder sat there in shock, her mouth hanging open. He hadn't even said anything to her. He just sat there, judging her! Iko pursed her lips, making her way into Cinder's line of vision.

"Well, he certainly doesn't like you," she said, stating the obvious after the emperor had left. "But I suggest you get on his good side, you don't want to know what happens when he's mad, it's not pretty." Cinder huffed out loud.

"Why?" she asked haughtily, holding back her tears, not liking the emperor one bit. Was he judging her because of her caste? Was it that important?

"So you can actually win the Selection," Iko said simply. Cinder sat there, confused. Iko cocked her head to the side, amusement playing on her lips. "You didn't think that the crown prince makes all of the choices… did you?"

 **Thanks for reading! Please review, we always appreciate it! Follow us or our story! We also take prompts for new stories and suggestions for this one. Thank you, Guest, TeaAndAGoodBook, and sleepingAsAsheep for reviewing!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Kai**

"Oh my stars," Kai groaned, kneading his temples repeatedly. He was perched on the edge of a fully cushioned velvet seat, but he was far from comfortable.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?" Torin asked from the opposite corner of the room.

"No," Kai replied simply.

"What's wrong?" Torin asked, concern creeping into his voice. Kai looked up, slightly bloodshot eyes staring at his advisor in disbelief. Torin remained clueless.

Kai sighed, having no choice but to explain. "I have to meet thirty-five girls, Torin. Thirty-five girls!" He stood up and paced around the room. "It wouldn't be so bad if I already have experience with them! BUT I DON'T THINK I'VE ACTUALLY EVER PROPERLY INTERACTED WITH A LADY BEFORE."

"Besides Levana," Torin chided.

Kai scowled. "I don't think Levana can be counted as a proper lady so much as a heartless monster."

"I heard that," Emperor Rikan suddenly said sternly, bursting from the double doors. He shot a glare at his son, who sent him a hasty bow. Rikan raised an eyebrow at Kai's former statement.

"I'm not taking it back, father. It's true," Kai said. The emperor sent him another look. This time, behind the boiling anger, lay something much more deadly. A threat? Whatever it was, it succeeded in making the young prince shut up. For the second time in one day.

Choosing to ignore whatever his 'stupid' son wants to say next, Emperor Rikan cleared his throat and said, "Hurry up and get ready. The ladies are all waiting on the recording area. There's no reason for the prince to be late."

Kai grumbled and made his way towards the stylists, who slipped him into the familiar cream white and red suit, swirls of gold on the red sash draped across his shoulder to his waist. Quickly, they smoothed his slick black hair back.

They stepped back when he was fully prepared, heads bowed in respect. He grimaced a bit when his servants seemed to flinch away from him, as if he were a monster. But his father pulled him out of the room before he could think anymore about that.

The walk there was completely silent. Nobody spoke, and the air was thick with tension. Something about the Selection had put both of them on edge, making them awkward around each other. Their leather shoes clicked noisily on the clean marble floor.

Luckily, the recording room wasn't far. Once the guards opened the door, noise flooded the hallway. Kai slipped through the door quickly, catching sight of all the girls at the corner of his eye.

He scanned over the crowd, glancing at their faces. Though he hated to admit it, they were indeed all very beautiful. Maybe the Selection wouldn't be so bad after all. _Oh, shut up Kai_ , he thought.

Kai's eyes swept across the thirty-five girls again. This time, somebody caught his eye. Well. Mostly the gown. _At first_ the gown. It was indeed stunning. The theme for today's recording was nature. One look at the gown and he knew what it was. Water.

The gown was a deep blue near the torso, then blended into a sky blue, fading into a barely visible periwinkle and dispersing into a misty white. The colors blended together and the gown floated around the ankles, flowing and twisting smoothly like water. As smooth as water.

His eyes trailed up the gown, which hugged the girl's figure tightly, showing off her curves. The gown may have caught his eye, but the girl pulled him in more than that dress ever would. His eyes locked on her face, and he couldn't help but just let out a little gasp.

Her brown hair was pulled into two braids and pulled back into an elegant bun, small curls framing her considerably tanned skin. Her nose was smoothly curved, and her lips were tugged at, as she was nervously biting her lower lip. But what most interested him were her eyes.

They were a warm brown, and there was a certain sparkle in them that showcased an undeniable intelligence. Kai's heart started to beat a little faster than normal, which confused him a little.

From his right shoulder, his father's whisper startled him, interrupting his gawking. The emperor followed his gaze to the girl. "Ah," he said. "That one you're looking at is Cinder." Being still slightly entranced by the girl's natural beauty, Kai didn't notice the hint of disgust hiding in his father's tone.

The emperor pursed his lips a little when seeing the curious gaze of his son. He let out a sigh and placed his hand on Kai's shoulder. Leaning closer, he whispered, "I suggest you stay away from that one, son."

Kai's eyebrows furrowed, and he turned to face his father. "Why?" he asked indignantly. The emperor's eyes hardened at Kai's sudden confrontive attitude.

"You are marrying the girl for their family's assets," he hissed at him.

Kai's eyes became cold, too. "Right," he replied icily. "I didn't think for a second that you put on the Selection because I wanted to find love."

Emperor Rikan ignored him and stalked towards the high podium, where the prince would soon be talking behind. Kai beat himself up for thinking just for a second that this program was for his own happiness. What other reason would there be but for his father's own gain?

Slightly enraged, he followed his father's lead onto the stage. He could feel the anger boiling low in his stomach, and he wanted to explode, but he spotted the little red dot on the camera that signalled they were filming. The stressed look on his face disappeared, hiding behind a pokerface that Kai had developed over years of court training.

He thought back to what his father had been drilling into his mind since he was little. You can show your feelings all you want in your own personal life. But in front of the camera, don't let anything show. Because no matter what, when you're put in the spotlight, you have no feelings.

Thinking about this, Kai gazed into the camera coldly, feeling disdain.

It doesn't matter anyways. It would always be the same. The kingdom would only see the mask - the facade. Nobody would ever listen to his real opinion.

Even looking at the girls in the Selection, there was one thing that he thought. They weren't here for him. They were here for the money, for the fame, for the publicity, for the crown.

Nobody would ever just be there for him. He was alone.

* * *

 **Pearl**

What more to do waiting in the recording room than to simply stare at the door. Not just any random door, though. It was the door from which the Prince is going to waltz in through.

Pearl chose to ignore any other girl that tries and comes to talk to her. There are a few persistent ones, which she scares away with a snarl. But one isn't fazed at all. In fact, when she sat down next to Pearl and she shot her a glare, she gave Pearl one of her own.

A bit surprised, Pearl riveted her gaze back to the door. Still thinking about the nerve of her, Pearl started wondering who she was. This beautiful girl looked a little familiar.

"If you'll stop staring, I'll just introduce myself," she drawled, eyes lazily sweeping towards her face. A blush threatened to crawl up Pearl's face, but she stifled it. Straightening her back, she matched the girl's stance, meeting her eye with a fierce stare.

The girl smirked, as if laughing at Pearl's attempts. She held out a hand for her to shake. "Chiyoko Mori. Pleasure to meet you." Hesitating, Pearl thought of all the pros and cons if she took Chiyoko's waiting hand. The girl waited, not looking expectant at all. In fact, she looked bored.

That's it. Quickly, Pearl whipped her hand out and slipped it into Chiyoko's, nodding. "I'm Pearl Linh."

Chiyoko elegantly arched an eyebrow. "Linh?" she mused. Her eyes flickered to the corner where Cinder - that disgusting maid - sat, fiddling with her dress. Pearl rolled her eyes distastefully.

"Don't even associate me with that imbecile," she growled, disgust evident in her voice. Chiyoko cocked her head to the side. She already liked this Pearl. Letting go of her hand, she opened her mouth to say something when Pearl let out a gasp. Following her wide eyes, Chiyoko found Kai walking through the door.

Immediately, both of them straightened their dresses and looked as lady-like as possible. Pearl giggled and sent the prince a wink, but his gaze passed over her as if she were just part of the background.

It was the same with Chiyoko. When she saw that the prince showed no interest towards her whatsoever, her pretty little lips curled into a frown. What? Both of the ladies looked as his gaze swept over all of them, then settled on a single one.

Once she saw who it was, Pearl gasped. Prince Kai was looking at Cinder, and she didn't even notice him walk in the door. Stupidly, she was still nervously biting at her bottom lip - a nasty habit. From beside her, she heard Chiyoko let out a small growl low in her throat.

Pearl looked back and saw a deadly glint in Chiyoko's gaze, as if she wanted to go over there and murder her right then. Something about that scary gleam made Pearl shiver, looking back to Cinder and glaring again.

"I hate her," Chiyoko whispered suddenly in Pearl's ear. "Why is Kai paying so much more attention to her than me? ME! I'm Chiyoko Mori, a gorgeous two, and he's paying attention to that little…"

Pearl nodded, agreeing with Chiyoko. But something about the way that she talked, as if she were the best, as if she were above everybody, made Pearl dislike her a little bit. But she suppressed those feelings.

Quoting the Japanese lady, Chiyoko was indeed 'a gorgeous two.' Maybe she would benefit from siding with her. _It didn't matter_ , Pearl reminded herself, straightening herself as the camera signalled that they were recording. She plastered a dazzling smile on her face.

The next thought changed her bright smile into a positively devilish one. _As long as I won, it didn't matter who I was with. And if I have to, I'll tear everybody down to get there_.

 **Thank you, sleepingAsAsheep and Fire'sCatching for reviewing, and the four amazing people who followed us! Please continue to do so :)  
** **I promise you, sleepingAsAsheep, that things will work out fine, including your earlier comment about disgrace. Rikan is based off of another king in a Disney movie. Perhaps when we get closer to the end you'll figure out who it is?  
We accept prompts for new stories and suggestions for this one! We might start a one-shot series. Feel free to name a ship (we prefer canon), or just drop an idea!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chiyoko**

A knock from the door startled Chiyoko from a daze. Great, so now she had two, not one, things to be pissed about. It was upsetting enough that the prince looked at her the same way he looked at all the other girls. Now some annoying maid had to come and knock while she was getting her nails done?

"Miss Mori? Open up!" Her maid hurried to the door, and opened it to reveal a Lunar guard. She could tell by the crescent moon pinned on his jacket. A guard of Queen Levana, then. Chiyoko heard the queen was staying over, and they had orders not to go to the west wing, where the Lunars were staying.

"Yes?" Chiyoko answered with uncertainty in her voice.

"Her Majesty requests your appearance in the living room of her personal quarters this moment."

Confused and nervous, Chiyoko had no choice but to check her appearance in the mirror (flawless as always, of course) and follow the guard silently down the hall. They eventually came to a stop in a hall decorated with red and silver, Luna's colors. The guard stopped outside a door and knocked, and the door was opened by a servant who bowed.

They walked to the armchair by the fireplace. "Your Majesty, here is the girl you wish to see. Miss Mori."

Chiyoko bowed. "Your Majesty. Was there a reason you called?"

The queen turned. She wore a veil over her face, so Chiyoko could only make out her brown eyes and blood red lips. "Of course there was a reason." She turned to the guard. "You are dismissed."

"May I- sit in that chair across from you, Your Majesty?"

The queen narrowed her eyes at Chiyoko. "What is your caste, girl? You are certainly very proud. Yes, go and sit in that chair. Nevertheless, we have important business to attend to. Now, as I understand it, you and thirty-four other girls are here for what they call a _Selection_ , for the darling Prince Kaito to pick a bride. Yes?" Chiyoko nodded. "I've also noticed that there is a certain girl who seems to be getting a bit more attention from the prince than the rest. Cinder Linh. And you don't seem to like her very much. But of course, you must play fair and bury your anger inside of you and secretly plot ways of revenge. Is that not so?"

Chiyoko gulped. "Y-your Majesty, how did you know?"

Queen Levana laughed. "Smart girl. You did not try to deny the truth. Good. I myself do not like the looks of this _Cinder_. After all, she is of low caste. It would never do for her to marry Kaito, would it?"

"No, Your Majesty."

"Then I have a plan for you to kick her out of the Selection once and for all. Would you do it?"

Chiyoko bowed her head. "Of course. Anything for you, Your Majesty."

"Very well. Now, the girl has a step-sister who hates her, correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Pearl Linh."

"Would you like to kick them both out at the same time?"

Chiyoko looked up eagerly. "Anything for less competitors."

"Well, I happen to know that Cinder is remarkably skilled at making friends. Especially those of her own… _level_ , we'll say. You and Pearl will watch for a time when Cinder gets friendly with other men. At the right moment, Pearl should accuse her of being in a romantic relationship with others, which is forbidden. After Cinder is taken away, you will be broken hearted over the loss of 'a good friend'. I'm sure you know what to do next." The Lunar Queen gave her a sly smile.

"I'll tattle on Pearl," said Chiyoko with a smile of her own.

"Well, my dear, you should go now, lest the guards become suspicious of you."

With one last bow, Chiyoko retreated from the room. "Yes, Your Majesty. Have a good day." She couldn't believe it. She had just been recruited by a queen to do something she _loved_ to do. Her next step would be to find Pearl and convince her to help. And from what she knew, it wasn't hard.

Oh, no, not at all hard.

* * *

 _Dear Peony,_

 _I'm writing as I promised. Life here is good. They treat us all like royalty, even though none of us are actual royalty._

 _I have a personal maid here, imagine that! It seems like a lifetime ago that I myself was a maid. Her name is Iko, and she is a very bubbly person. A lot like you, now that I think of it. You would get along with her really well._

 _Oh, the castes. They said that we are all Threes now, but the food we get here is fit for Ones. It's remarkable._

 _Speaking of castes, the Two hates me. Chiyoko Mori. I don't even know why, it's not like I want to steal the prince from her. I suppose I_ did _get the first date. But other than that, nothing. Not everyone is as mean as Chiyoko though. I met a friend on the plane, Scarlet Benoit. Remember her? The pretty redhead._

 _I'm assuming you want to know about the prince. He met us all at dinner today. He kinda just waltzed in and looked at each girl carefully before announcing for us to start heading to another room for dinner and storming off after his dad. They must've argued. He didn't say much, but I think he's okay. At least, on the outside. Who knows what he's like on the inside._

 _Anyway, after dinner was over, he walked over to us again, but this time, he talked to all of us. And by that, I meant an exchange of pleasantries. It was like "How do you like it here?" and "How many siblings do you have? I've always wished for siblings." That was the only time I felt an emotion stir inside me the whole day (besides being nervous, of course). The poor boy lost his mother when he was a young teen, and had no one else to talk to. But then again, there are dozens of Twos that would meet with the royal family quite eagerly._

 _I'm going off track here. Anyway, when the prince got to me, he asked me about my family, like he did with everyone. I told him about you, of course, and how I was adopted. I think Pearl told him bad things about me, because he lowered his voice and asked if Pearl and Adri treated me alright. Don't worry, I only shrugged. I thought that would be the end, since it didn't appear like he was interested in anyone, so you can imagine my surprise when a servant brought over a slip of paper with elegant writing on it. From the prince. He asked me to meet him in the gardens tomorrow morning, as his first date._

 _I really don't know what to do, what to expect, what to say, and all the likes. I think he's a nice prince, but like I've said, you'll never know what a person is like on the inside. For example, the emperor looks loving and gentle and gracious to all on TV, but really, he's not that perfect. Especially the gracious to all part. When he came to visit me this afternoon he showed such a dislike at my "improperness" that you would've thought I would be out by dinnertime. Or at least, not allowed to go with Prince Kaito at all, seeing how he obviously holds power over Kaito. I saw him whispering to the prince when we all met him right before dinner. He was obviously giving the prince his ideas on all of us._

 _I'm going to rest for tonight now. After all, I've got a date tomorrow to prepare for. Goodnight, Peony. Love you forever, and don't forget to write back!_

 _Sincerely,  
_ _Cinder_

 **I have to apologize to TeaAndAGoodBook. I'm sorry, the review about disgrace was from you and I got it all mixed up! Forgive me? The promise was for you, too. Thank you to those who read, reviewed, followed, and favorited our story! Keep it up! We really appreciate it! Remember, we take prompts and suggestions!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Cinder**

Cinder chewed the inside of her mouth, desperately wanting to tinker with something at the moment. As Iko did everything for her, she felt immensely useless. And that was not a great feeling, considering the fact that she was one who did everything back at home, if that's anything close to what it is.

She was sitting in front of the mirror as Iko was doing her hair.

"Today is your date with the prince!" Iko excitedly chirped. Oh, right. Iko was also one of Prince Kaito's fangirls. Cinder rolled her eyes to the sky, letting out a breath but not interrupting her personal maid. "When you come back, you're going to have to tell me all about it, okay?"

Iko elaborately twisted Cinder's hair into a braided bun, tight atop her head. Her eyes filled with tears from the pain as the maid tugged at her hair. Tying it off and adding a crystal hairpiece, Iko stepped back. "Perfect!" she squealed, satisfied with her work.

Cinder slowly stood up, not used to having all of her hair off of her neck. Her baby blue dress flowed out around her, hands rubbing together. At that moment, a knock sounded on the door.

"That'll be the prince!" Iko squealed, rushing over quickly and yanking the door open with no abandon. Cinder straightened her back and cleared her throat, not wanting to look like a weak girl. Prince Kaito stood on the other side of the door, hair swept to the side with gel.

He shot a shy yet dazzling smile to Cinder. Iko almost had a heart attack, but Cinder was not impressed, although she did feel a strange feeling rise momentarily in her chest. "Hello, Miss Linh," Kaito started timidly.

He held out his arm for her to take. Cinder stared at it hesitantly before looping her arm through his. This seemed to give the prince some level of confidence. With another lopsided grin from the prince, they started off down the hallway. The walk was silent most of the time before Cinder decided to break the ice.

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously. The prince looked surprised that she even asked.

"To the palace gardens," he explained, smiling fondly. "They are truly beautiful." Cinder's spirits rose a little at the mention of going outside in the sun.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked with a hesitant smile. Kaito chuckled at her enthusiasm (or lack of, really) and walked faster to lead her along. After turning a corner, they finally reached the giant doors leading to the gardens. With a nod, the guards stepped aside, opening the doors for the couple.

"Wow," Cinder breathed once they stepped outside.

"Indeed," the prince mused. The sun was warm, lighting up the garden with a warm glow. The garden was filled with exotic flowers and tangling trees, vines neatly trimmed and climbing up the walls. A neatly paved path led the way through the maze of plants. Butterflies flitted through the garden. Critters skittered through the plants and birds created a beautiful symphony.

The entire place seemed to be glowing. It was magical.

While Cinder was staring in awe at the sheer beauty of it, Kai wasn't looking at all. Instead, he had his eyes focused on Cinder's face. The way her lips parted a little in awe, and her eyes that had widened so incredibly gave her the look of an amazed child. Kai chuckled at the thought.

Cinder glanced over at Prince Kaito at the sound, and saw him staring at her. Quickly, she averted her gaze, staring instead at the flowers again.

"Let's go," she murmured, stepping into the separate world. Immediately spotting some flower that she loved, Cinder ran forward, cooing at the soft petals. She was playing with her hands nervously, fiddling with her fingers. This was a bad habit that she had acquired over the years.

Seeing this habit, Kaito glanced down.

"Hmm," he hummed quietly. "Have you always done that?" He gestured to her fidgeting hands. Cinder chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah…" she answered, hiding her hands behind her back, forcing them to stop. Kaito cocked his head to the side, and the conversation temporarily paused, creating an awkward silence.

They followed the quaint, little rock path, leading to an beautiful, open area. In the middle was a marble fountain, water spewing from the top and spilling over the edges, cascading downwards and spraying mist upwards.

In front of it was a small bench, black wire twisted together in an elaborate design. The prince tilted his head towards the bench. "Shall we?" he asked. Cinder's lips pursed at the thought of being squished on a tiny bench with the prince, but it would be too rude to refuse.

"Of course," she answered instead in a slightly strained voice. They moved forward and sat down, Cinder leaning towards the outside, leaving a considerable space between their two bodies.

Kaito, being oddly perceptive, noticed this. Curiously, he asked, "Was it your choice to enter the Selection?" At this question, her body turned rigid.

"Um…" she stuttered. "Kind… of?" The prince cocked an eyebrow. "I sort of joined… just to spite my guardian? Step-mother? I don't know what to call her." Cinder looked down. "I didn't think I would get in though."

Prince Kaito looked half amused and half hurt.

"To spite her? Not because you wanted to meet me?"

Cinder laughed. "No offense, but I wasn't one of those girls who squeal every time you're on TV. That was for Pearl and Peony." She sighed. Might as well tell the prince her story once and for all. "My parents died in a car crash when I was eleven. I've been living with the Linhs ever since. Mr. Linh died the very year I went to them, and Adri just blames me for everything that happened."

"Adri is my step-mother, or guardian, or whatever you want to call her," she added. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I must be boring you with the life story of a common Six."

"Miss Linh, stories that come from your lips will never bore me," said the prince, winking. Cinder felt a large amount of heat rush to her face immediately. "Please, call me Kai. I don't wish to be strangers with a pretty girl."

Cinder blushed again, but raised an eyebrow at the prince. "Are you flirting with me, you- Kai?"

Kai was expecting Cinder to still call him "Your Highness" even after he told her to call him Kai, and was surprised that she would say his name so casually, but he grinned at her nevertheless.

"Maybe, maybe not. But please, tell me more. I want to learn more about life outside the castle walls."

"I'm a mechanic by day and a maid by night."

"A maid? That's quite a different job. Aren't maids Sevens? And mechanics Sixes?"

"Indeed. I'm officially a mechanic and unofficially a maid." Kai looked confused.

"Unofficial? Who is your master?" Cinder looked away.

"Mistress, actually. And you wouldn't want to know. Especially after you find out what she did to me."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. Do you mind telling me who it is?" Cinder was hesitant, but her mind wandered back to the slim chance of marrying Kai, and being away from Adri and Pearl forever. If she was going to marry the prince, she'd eventually have to tell him everything, right?

"Um...her name is…" Cinder still couldn't bring herself to say it. The thought of Adri made her cringe. Panic was quickly rising in her throat, and she felt like her air supply was being cut off. Soon, she was hyperventilating.

"Her name is…" repeated Kai.

She could tell he was desperate to know, but shook her head. "I don't think that's information that I can trust you with yet, Kai. Maybe in the future though?" Cinder laughed nervously.

Kai gave her a small smile. "I wouldn't push you to say something you don't want to tell me, Miss Linh, though I certainly hope that one day I might gain enough of your trust that you should confide this story in me."

Cinder smiled. "Thank you, Kai. But please, call me Cinder if you consider us friends.

Kai smiled in return and gave her a two-finger salute. "Alright then, Cinder. I apologize if I've brought up something unpleasant. How can I make it up to you?"

Cinder pondered this for a moment. "I can think of two ways."

"Well, go ahead and shoot. I'll do both."

Cinder smirked. "Suddenly very princely, are we? But my first idea was that you give me a friendly hug and pat on the back."

It was Kai's turn to smirk. "Oh, a _friendly_ hug? Not anything else? I would love it to mean more," he said while wiggling his eyebrows.

Cinder slapped him. "Yes, a friendly hug. Hurry up or you will lose your chance to make up for your wrongdoings."

" _Yes, a friendly hug_ she says. Hmm. But I shall give her one." Kai slid over and wrapped his arms around her. Cinder, much to her dismay, found that she quite enjoyed the feeling of being pressed up against Kai's chest. He patted her a couple times on the back and sat straight again.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Then his flirtatious grin came back. "Want to do that again anytime soon?" Cinder blushed. Kai laughed. "Oh, I can tell you do, Miss Cinder. There's no need to pretend you don't want to end up in the arms of the crown prince of the Commonwealth. But really, Cinder," he continued with a sparkle in his eyes, "can you allow me to give you a peck on your cheek? I can't resist your lovely face much longer, prince I may be."

Cinder blushed harder, but stood her ground. "Really, Kai, I would like for all of the Selected to have a fair chance at winning you over. Promise me you won't do this until you've dated at least two other girls and are sure that you want to do this. Besides, you haven't done my second request yet. We must settle our little dispute first before anything else."

Kai sighed dramatically. "I can't make any promises, _my lady_. But I am willing to hear you out first."

"Well, _my prince_ ," said Cinder half mockingly, "you know that I have two stepsisters, Pearl and Peony. You can meet Pearl and decide what you like about her, but Peony is by all means a sweet girl. She is very much in love with you, just like every other girl on the planet, and I would like you to send her some flowers and write something to her too. We can send it to her with my next letter."

"Sure thing, my lady." Then he smirked. "So, every other girl? Does that include you?"

Cinder huffed, but played along with his game. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out," she retorted, grabbing Kai's hand and standing up from their bench. As much as she would hate to admit it, Cinder was starting to like Kai and felt tingles run up her arm from his hand. "Let's go find some peonies. Her namesake, yes?"

Kai grinned at her. "Sure. I know where the best ones are."

They started back down the path, and soon, Cinder could see beds of lovely flowers in the distance. They were pink and puffy with layers of flowers. "They're beautiful," she breathed, bending down to touch the delicate petals.

"My mother planted them with me when I was young," said Kai, staring off at the distant mountains with a tinge of sadness in his gaze.

"I'm sorry," Cinder whispered. "I know how it feels to lose a loved one."

What she did next surprised both Kai and herself. She hugged him. What was even more surprising was that she felt Kai hug her back and slump his head onto her shoulder. "I miss her a lot," Kai mumbled into her shoulder. "But everyone wants me to be brave, like a prince should be, but how can I when there's no one who can comfort me? When Mother died, Father locked himself in the office so often that I didn't see him much. I know that he was mourning, but couldn't he have done it with me?" Kai was shaking now, so Cinder rubbed his back comfortingly.

Cinder sighed. "How about this? Any time you need someone to talk to me. Maybe... press two fingers to your brow? I'll do it back to confirm it."

Kai stood straight again and smiled at her. "You don't know how much this means to me, Cinder." He tilted his head to the side. "And if you ever need company, you could do the same."

"Good." Cinder bent down again. "Now let's actually start gathering peonies."

At one point Kai had to call for a maid to bring a basket because they started picking other flowers to send to Peony.

At noon, the two headed back towards the palace, hand in hand and with a basketful of flowers, one of them blissful and content for the first time in forever, and the other almost sure of his choice of princess.

They were so happy while _outside_ the palace that they didn't notice the disapproving glances from _inside_ the palace.

 **Kaider, at long last! What do you think?**

 **Thank you, everyone, for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting our story! Keep it up! Thanks fir the suggestion, sleepingAsAsheep!**

 **Check out our profile page for some guidelines to prompts and suggestions!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Kai**

Kai was scheduled to meet Queen Levana during the afternoon the next day, and he was not happy about it. He tried not to let the emotion show, however, because he knew that his father would give him a serious lecture about it later. That may or may not be even worse than spending an entire day with Levana.

Well, no. Not really.

Levana's presence will always be the worst.

Kai and Rikan step into Levana's bedchamber, which Kai would preferably call his torture chamber, and come face to face, or rather face to cloth, with the queen. Her face is covered with that ever present veil, preventing them, or anyone, from seeing her actual face. The only thing that's visible through the veil are her garishly dark painted, blood red lips. They're curved into a smile that resembles an evil sneer. He shudders at the sight.

Levana sweeps her arms out, as if mocking a greeting, almost knocking over the glass flower vase sitting on her bedside table uselessly. The emperor and his son step forward, and Kai couldn't help but feel like a mouse walking into a cat's trap. His father, on the other hand, shows no discomfort. Instead, a wide, almost genuine smile is plastered across his face.

 _Fake_.

"Welcome," Levana says, her voice uncomfortably soothing and musical. Kai feels himself leaning towards her unintentionally, but coughs and draws away just as he realizes what is happening to him. Levana's lips curl into a creepy, knowing smile, and she lets her arms drop. Emperor Rikan dips his head in greeting.

"Queen Levana," he addresses her, voice dripping with enthusiasm. "Welcome to the Commonwealth's palace." He shoots a side glance at Kai, signalling his turn. Kai startles, stumbling over the first few words.

"Um… my queen, are you -would you like to… get a tour around the palace?" he manages to squeak out. His father's eyes roll to the atmosphere in annoyance and embarrassment. Levana, however, shows no immediate reaction. Instead, she slowly unfolds herself from her big, soft and luxurious chair, her strange white dress pooling around the floor in a long train behind her.

"Of course," she purrs, taking Kai's shaky, outstretched arm. He almost recoils at her cold, lifeless touch. Levana nods at Rikan, veil rippling. He bows back, and that's when Kai realizes that now his father has left him alone with the awful creature. It would be a miracle if he survived.

With a snap of her fingers, two of her guards flank her. One is an everyday Lunar, with slick brown hair and piercing hazel eyes. He glares at Kai with an unnatural smirk. Kai averts his gaze and sweeps to the other guard. It's a hybrid. He has green eyes and tan skin, dark brown unruly hair.

His arm muscles look ready to burst from his shirt, and his teeth are slightly sharper than normal. But surprisingly, he looks in control of his own thoughts. This gives Kai a slight comfort.

"Shall we?" Levana asks, gesturing to the door, snapping him out of his stupor. Dazed, he glances towards the door, dipping his head into a slight nod.

Before he could move, Levana was already out the door, her arm dragging him along, making him feel awkward and uncomfortable. As soon as they were in the hallway, Levana looked around to make sure there was no one within earshot. She turned to Kai. "Now, I've heard rumors that you have your sights set on a specific girl already? Tell me, what is her name? I think I should like to make her acquaintance."

Kai frowned. "If you're talking about Miss Linh, then you must know that she was my first date, and that I like her a great deal. But I believe it is still quite early in the Selection to be making any final decisions, Your Majesty."

"So tell me about this Miss Linh of whom you speak so highly."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I cannot give you any more information on the lady. It is her privacy, and we must not intrude upon it. Besides, it is nothing of your concern."

Levana curled her lips into a smirk. "Hit a soft spot, did we? But my dear prince, I would love to know about the young lady who has already captured the heart of the prince, despite it being her second day here."

"It is nothing of your concern, Your Majesty!" Kai huffed in frustration. "Might we start on this tour, Your Majesty?"

"Of course, my dear prince. But in the meantime, I have another proposal for you. Are you fully confident you would find the right princess in this Selection, Kaito?"

Kai shrugged, mind wandering to Cinder. "I would certainly hope to do so, Your Majesty. Here is the ballroom, by the way." He pushed open the heavy double doors to reveal them standing at the top of a tall staircase. Below them was a truly magnificent room. A beautiful diamond chandelier hung from the ceiling.

"Ah, the rumors don't do this room justice. But you haven't heard my entire proposal yet, dear prince. Suppose you don't find anyone at this Selection. What then?"

Kai glared at Levana. "The Selection goes as long as I take to fall in love." He turned down a corridor. "This here, is the throne room, but as my father is in there, we will not disturb him." He made to turn again, but was stopped by a cold hand on his shoulder.

"Would you like another way out, my dear prince?" Kai promptly turned pale at Levana's sick, sugary voice. "Would you marry me? It would also serve as the alliance Luna and Commonwealth has been searching for for the past two decades. Since the reign of my parents, my dear sister Channary, and now it is thirteen years into my reign. Oh, how proud of me they will be." Levana smirked at Kai, whose face had turned deathly pale, then flamed all at once.

"I will _never_ marry you!" Kai spat. "Trust me when I say that I _will_ find my princess at the Selection. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and make sure my ladies are comfortable. Just turn right at that corridor, and make your way up the stairs to the fifth floor. That would be the guest wing for Lunars." With another bow, Kai promptly turned and walked the other down the corridor.

"Consider my offer, dear!" Levana called. With a growing smirk, she walked down the hall according to Kai's instructions and retired. The young prince was not that great at concealing his emotions, truly. Levana could tell that Kai had already fallen in love with this Miss Linh. She looked too much like Channary for Levana's liking, really. But the only other person that looks like that besides the late queen herself was her daughter, Selene. But Levana had made sure that the girl died. Thirteen years ago. She would've made a pretty sixteen-year-old princess, but no doubt spoiled like her mother. It was a good thing she wasn't alive.

 **Thanks for the comments guys! To be honest I was expecting a bit more, considering we put a lot of energy into writing and extra long fluffy chapter, but I suppose it's fine. Keep it up, y'all!**

 **By the way, is it true that you can't receive PM from the app with the web, and vice versa? 'Cause if it is, we use the web version, in case anyone is upset that we're not replying. Sorry for the inconvenience!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Scarlet**

Well, who would have thought that Scarlet Benoit, a Seven, would actually get a date with the prince. From what she could tell, the prince was a nice person. She saw how Cinder came back from the date with a smile. He also gave Cinder a rose, along with a note. Needless to say, it was the gossip of the day.

After lunch, the prince took Chiyoko on a walk around the palace after _much_ nudging on the emperor's part.

At 3 pm, the prince showed up at Scarlet's door, much to her surprise.

Kai charmingly smiled. Scarlet did everything in her power not to wince. As much as she hated to admit it, she never much enjoyed attention from a boy. This was a bit of a new experience for her. But Kai's friendly demeanor helped to ease any nervousness away.

"Alright," he said. Hesitantly, Kai glanced sidelong at the bold girl, who raised an eyebrow at him. Her personal maid stifled a giggle. He nudged his head towards the back of the palace. "Shall we?"

Scarlet almost smiled at how much of a gentleman he was being, but then that would be dropping her act. So she rolled her eyes and pushed past him instead, brushing his hand slightly as to not seem too rude.

Kai simply chuckled. Walking through the hallways, Scarlet's eye snatched on a form standing at the corner of the hall. Her steps faltered to almost a complete stop. It was a man, very tall. His back was turned to her, so she only caught sight of his unruly hair and burly frame.

But then he turned around and caught her eye. Scarlet's breath hitched. They were the most brilliant green that she had ever seen. And inside, she noticed a wild gleam. And - although she would never say it out loud - she loved it.

Kai's call interrupted her thoughts. "Coming?" he asked from the end of the hallway, pushing open a door. Scarlet stumbled forward, almost tripping over her dress.

"Coming," she echoed.

They walked out of the palace and past the garden, into a gated court. The grass was neatly mowed, and three targets were set at the end of the field, so far that they could barely see the colored rings. White lines were sprayed across the field to indicate the distance between them.

"What did you do at home?" he asked. Scarlet gazed at him questioningly. "You know," Kai elaborated. "Before the Selection."

Scarlet looked like she understood, gazing into the distance as if remembering the past. "Well, I don't do much back at home. Grandmere and I just tend a farm and that's pretty much it."

Kai's eyes widened in surprise. "You like it? I can't believe that's all you do all day. Doesn't it ever get boring?" he asked, imagining what it would be like if he lived on a farm. Living in the palace was about as far from farming as it is.

Scarlet gazed into the distance fondly, thinking of her grandmother. "Life on the farm is never boring," she said after a pause.

Kai nodded. "Any hobbies, then?" he asked.

Scarlet pursed her lips, glancing at the targets in the distance. She pursed her lips, fighting the smile that fought her way to her lips. "Actually," Scarlet said, giving up and grinning fully, "I do target practice."

"Good thing that we came here, then," Kai said, returning her smile. He wandered to the edge of the field, where a bucket of arrows and bows was lying. Picking one up, he held it out to Scarlet. "Archery?"

Scarlet took it and ran her hands lovingly over the smoothly carved wood, plucky at the taut string. Grabbing the quiver of arrows, she strapped it to her back. "Archery," she agreed, heading towards the target.

They stopped at the white line, about 10 yards away from the target. "This far?" Kai said, doubtful that she would be able to even fly the arrow that far.

Scarlet glared at him. "With all due respect, Prince, I've been doing this since I was little," Scarlet said, grabbing an arrow and stringing it to the bow. She was surprised at how easily it pulled back, unlike the old ones she used at home, that seemed like it could break any second. Once it was prepared, she lifted it, pulling her elbow back and closing one eye. Taking a deep breath, she let go. The arrow flew forward, singing through the air.

It hit true, straight in the middle. Scarlet smiled at Kai, who was gaping at the arrow stuck in the bullseye. "I think I've had enough practice," she said smugly.

Kai cocked an eyebrow up, grinning teasingly. "Is that a challenge, Ms. Benoit?"

Scarlet shrugged. "Maybe," she answered flippantly. Kai's smile grew bigger, and he loaded his bow with one arrow. He stared at Scarlet, who boldly stared back. When their eyes met, they had seemed to come to a mutual agreement. Their love was not that which Kai wished to have with Cinder, but more of a sibling love.

"It's on."

Lifting up his bow, Kai straightened out his arrow and freed it from the bow. He watched it fly through the air. Unfortunately, it landed just shy of the bullseye. Scarlet smirked while Kai pursed his lips, disappointed but determined that he could do better. _Like I thought,_ Scarlet reflected.

Kai turned to the redheaded girl. "Your turn."

Scarlet hefted her bow and grabbed another arrow. Through the corner of her eyes, she could see Kai's nervous expression. She turned her focus back to her target, her delicate finger gripping the arrow. Using her strength, she pulled it back, closing one eye. When she released her grip, she already knew that it would hit its mark.

It flew through the air and split the past arrow cleanly in half, once again hitting the bullseye. Kai's jaw dropped.

"Not so confident now, are you, Prince?" Scarlet teased him.

Kai awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Not really," he admitted. "I've always been a better shot with a gun."

Scarlet startled. "A gun, you say?" she asked, fingering the pistol she kept tucked in her waistband. Kai didn't catch it. He nodded enthusiastically instead. "Oh," she said simply, touching the cool metal again.

"Do you know how to shoot one?" he asked.

Scarlet hesitated to tell him, but when she studied his question, she found no catch.

"Yeah," she answered in the end. Swiping back her worn, red hoodie, she revealed the handle of the pistol tucked into her dress (which her maids had unwillingly shoved her into).

Kai's eyes brightened. "Wow. You would be of much help if the rebels or Lunars ever invade." Scarlet chuckled, but her heart wasn't in it. Her eyes nervously flitted to the guards, who were still stationed at the door.

One had blonde hair and his eyes were narrowed directly at her, catching the glint of sunlight reflected by the pistol. Hastily, she covered it back up. Kai, however, didn't seem the least surprised about the weapon she carried. He looked to where her eyes were staring at.

"That's Captain Thorne," he said, introducing the guard that was suspiciously watching over them. "Captain of the guard and our air fleet. He may look unfriendly, but he's really fine, once you get to know him." Kai shrugged.

Suddenly, the sounds of screams and gunshots echoed from the other side of the palace. Both of their heads shot up, and immediately, the guards ran forward to circle both of them. More screeches reached their ears, making Scarlet recoil into herself. "Where is it coming from?" she asked, voice not betraying any of the fear she felt. No answer. She could see from the Prince's eyes that he was just as clueless. But he got his answer a moment later.

Lithe forms jumped over the palace walls. From far away, Scarlet's keen eyes caught the gleam of pistols that they held in their hands. And they were trained directly towards them.

"RUN!" Thorne roared, pushing the lady towards the direction of the palace. Kai grabbed her arm and started to run, but her feet held firm. He looked back.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. Scarlet glared back at him with all the ferocity of a tiger. The rebels were getting closer. They caught snippets of their shouts, something about Lunars, invaders, and how they didn't belong. One word stood out more than the other. Murder.

"I want to stay and fight," Scarlet answered back with equal intensity. Kai's eyes softened, flickering to the men with the guns. Beside them, one of the guards fell with a cry, blood gushing from his chest. His gaze hardened again, and he tugged once more.

"Fighting doesn't always have to do with combat," he vaguely told her. That moment of hesitation was enough for him to drag her across the field. Shouts and gunshots rang around the field, bullets piercing the ground after them. Sprinting, they burst through the door. Kai barked at the guards to lock them.

"Go, go, go, go," he murmured fervently. His hands roamed over the marble walls, finally reaching a spot. He pushed. The wall twisted slightly, revealing a dusty hallway lit with dim lights. Kai gave Scarlet no time to admire it. He pushed both of them inside, the wall twisting back in place with a snap.

They twisted through many corners, so many that Scarlet became dizzy. The tunnels were like a maze, but Kai seemed to know them like the back of his hand. Soon, they reached a large joint room, where frightened voices could be heard.

They burst through the opening and was revealed a large room, still caged in by hidden walls. All of the other thirty-four girls swiveled to them.

"Kai!" The Emperor's rough bark broke the silence. He rushed forward and embraced the prince, who looked immensely uncomfortable. "There you are, my boy." Scarlet chuckled at the expression on Kai's face, still in shock about the rebels. The scene of the guard falling to the floor, dead, replayed in her mind. Her eyes wildly searched the room for Cinder, but instead fell on the mysteriously handsome man that she had seen before.

The one with the stunning emerald eyes. But just as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished back into the crowd. A sinking disappointment filled her chest. Startled, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around to see Kai.

"I'm sorry that our date had to end this way," he apologized, looking sincere.

Scarlet shrugged. "It's fine. I don't think we really… relate to each other in that way." An unspoken agreement resonated between the two. In the end, she was the first one to hold out a hand. "Friends?"

Kai looked relieved. He took her hand and shook it. "Friends."

Scarlet teasingly smiled, now that she knew they were on good terms. "So, Prince," she taunted. "Who do you like the most?" Kai looked unprepared by this question. He scratched his head and laughed. Scarlet stayed expectant.

"I don't know," he ended up answering. Kai was interrupted by Torin trying to draw him away.

"Your Highness. There is something I must speak to you about," he said into his ear. Kai nodded, willingly walking with him. Before he exited, however, he threw a name over his shoulder.

"Cinder," he called, the answer to Scarlet's question. "I think I like Cinder quite a lot."

 **So, what do you think? Don't forget to review, follow, and favorite! We could also use some one-shot prompts, and we would prefer canon pairings. Remember to check our profile for some guidelines on prompts!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Kai**

Many guards accompanied the prince to the Royal's Safety Room, quickly ushering them forward. Screams and gunshots echoed from outside the tunnels. To distract himself, Kai decided to chat with Torin.

"What, Torin?" Kai asked immediately, once they were out of the room.

"I would like to give you a lesson in Politics and Society, Your Highness,"

Torin answered without stopping his walk down the hall. "First, you must know by now that we are under attack by rebels. What do you think they are opposed to this time, Your Highness?"

Kai sighed in relief, glad that Torin knew exactly how to distract him. So he put his mind to think about this.

"I would assume that the rebels are opposed to the visiting Lunars." He thought to when the rebels jumped over the wall, screaming bloody murder about the Lunars. He shivered. "I myself am still wondering why the Lunars are here, though Father told me they were here for a treaty. As far as I can see, they're doing nothing but lounging about in their quarters all day and enjoying our hospitality. At the rate they're going, our royal treasury is going to be drained by the end of the year. Normally, when diplomats come for a treaty, they stay only for two nights since most things get done on their first morning."

Torin cut him off, quite bored by the Prince's ramblings. Still, he was polite.

"Yes, Kai. Your observations are correct. To answer your question, Queen Levana does want to sign a treaty. But this treaty might be somewhat different to what you are expecting."

"Different?" Kai asked. He could feel something like dread clawing up at his heart. Torin almost slapped himself at how naive the young prince was.

"A marriage alliance, Prince. She has been wanting this since you were ten." Kai's face turned pale, all of the blood draining out. He gulped nervously. Just the thought of marrying that… monstrosity was enough to make him want to jump off of a cliff.

"But- Father is holding a Selection for me! I knew she wanted to do that, but the whole point of the Selection is for me to find a wife!" Kai protested.

"That was just something to keep the public interested in us," Torin replied. He glanced over at Kai's downcast expression. "Although if you do find love, I'm sure the Emperor would not force you to."

Kai snorted as they turned a corner, the guards typing in a code to enter the safe room. Luckily, the Emperor was not in yet. They shut the heavy metal door behind them.

"If I don't find a wife I like or one that Father approves of, I have to marry-" Kai shivered. "Queen Levana." Torin could sense another one of the prince's useless ramblings coming on, so he quickly made his move.

"Second," said Torin, effectively cutting off Kai's speech, "unless you were picking some girl with no manners, I don't see why picking a girl of your father's approval is a difficult task." Kai sighed.

"You just don't get it. Father wants me to marry someone of high class, which basically means nobody lower than a three."

"And you," Torin continued, quite sure of what the prince meant now, "are interested in a certain pretty Six." At that, Kai froze. He glared sideways at Torin, who only gave him a tight lipped smile.

"Is it not true?" Torin asked, knowing that he had won. Kai groaned and held a hand to his forehead, mentally chastising himself. How could he be so obvious?

"If you know, does that mean everyone knows?" Kai asked, hope painted all over his expression. Torin hesitated, not wanting to tell the truth, but not wanting to give the Prince false hope. However, he was able to deduce the answer from his advisor's silence. Kai lost his posture, shoulders slumping.

"I've been meaning to ask you, why are you so sure that His Majesty wouldn't approve of the girl? Surely, though he cares about advantages, he knows what it's like to be in love? He was in love with your mother."

"Mother was a Three, Torin. That's already the lowest class possible that I can marry. Miss Linh is very, very far from a Three. And Father doesn't seem to have taken a liking to her anyways." Torin frowned.

"How can you tell that?" Kai shrugged.

"Basically, the first time I laid eyes on her, I was already amazed. And guess what, Father had to come up behind me and squish my dreams under his hand in one second. He told me to stay away from her, and the disgust in his tone was so evident, it was startling."

"What could she had done to upset the Emperor in just one sitting?" Torin frowned. He was finding this entire situation a little fishy. Kai shrugged once more. His advisor's eyes softened at how hopeless he looked. Putting a hand on Kai's shoulder, he tried his hand in comforting him.

"What would your father rather have you do? Marry Queen Levana, or Miss Linh?" Kai let out a sigh.

"Honestly, Torin, I really don't know."

* * *

 **Pearl**

How in the world is it fair? The prince has had three dates, and none of them were with her. Her, a respectable Four. And the first was with _Cinder_. Hideous, worthless Cinder who couldn't possibly have caught the prince's attention. Not for his first date. Kai probably just chose Cinder first to get the bad things over with. The third was with little miss Benoit, a Seven, even _worse_ than Cinder. Chiyoko, she didn't particularly mind. She was a gorgeous Two. And anyway, if she complained about Chiyoko, she would have to risk her temper, and lose the only person who was decent to her in this Selection.

"He kissed my hand," Chiyoko said, interrupting Pearl's train of thought. She said this very phrase as if it were no big deal, as if the prince came over and kissed her hand everyday.

A few of the girls were currently sitting in yet another hall, the one they nicknamed the Lady's Room since only the feminine population would entertain themselves in it. Chiyoko plopped herself into the puffiest, comfiest armchair at the center of the room.

Mirella Masi, a Five, looked up from her book at Chiyoko disgustingly, with her brown curls bouncing around. Pearl couldn't help but put on the slightest of smiles. Mirella was jealous. Dozens of other girls were sitting around Chiyoko, listening with glittering and envious eyes as they listened to her talk about her date.

"What did you guys do?" Pearl asked, leaning forward. Chiyoko sighed, as if she were bothered that the other girls would even be interested in her date. Pearl bristled.

"We walked around the palace. Kaito showed me different rooms. Really, it wasn't that interesting. He didn't talk much either, except to explain the different purposes of rooms. Oh, if you wanted to know," Chiyoko couldn't suppress her smirk any longer, "I was on his arm the whole time we were together. I was even leaning against him at times. He couldn't let go." All the girls squealed.

Pearl reveled in their reactions, as if she were the one that all of this had happened to. Her eyes glanced to the corner of the room.

 _There_. In another corner, Cinder and Scarlet Benoit sat by themselves, but they were listening to Chiyoko, alright. But instead of fascinated and envious looks, those two had amusement flickering in their eyes. Pearl narrowed hers at them.

Pearl nudged her arm at the Two, whose calculating eyes also turned to the two lone figures in the corner. Her lips curled, finding her chance.

"Perhaps," Chiyoko drawled, noticing the two in their corner, "the other two who got to go on a date would like to share their their experience with the rest of us?" Contempt and dislike was now brewing in her large, beautiful eyes.

She was hoping that their dates weren't nearly as interesting, so that she would be able to brag all about it. Her smirk widened because she saw the slightly panicked look in Cinder's eyes.

 _Looks like somebody doesn't want to share about their date_ , Pearl mused.

She almost wanted to laugh. Chiyoko, the perfect Two, was worried about the prince being stolen by a Six or Seven? And really, just an hour ago, she had been worried about her life. They all were. Anyone can tell they were chatting to release their minds from the terror of the rebel attack.

Scarlet got up and pulled Cinder out of her chair towards the large circle. Cinder dragged her heels across the carpet, but the red headed girl was simply too strong. Now they were the center of attention, which Chiyoko simply hated.

"Sure. What do you want to know?" Scarlet said almost proudly. Pearl leaned back lazily in her chair and shrugged.

"Where you went, what you did, how long you were there, what the prince said and did," Mirella listed, going on forever, glaring at them like Chiyoko.

"Hmm, let's see." Scarlet tapped her finger against her lips just to tease the others.

"Prince Kaito took me to the archery fields." They all gasped while Cinder smiled and Scarlet smirked. "What on earth were you doing in the archery fields?" Pearl exclaimed. Scarlet rolled her eyes.

"Practicing archery? I actually beat him, though."

Chiyoko sneered. "Well, now, I suppose the prince wasn't very pleased with that, was he? But answer the rest of the questions. How long were you there?"

"Half an hour, I think? We had to end our competition because of the attack."

"Well," retorted Jacqueline Olivier, a Three, sourly, "I think it's safe to say the prince was relieved when there was a rebel attack." Scarlet shrugged.

"He said he was a better shot with a gun." She grinned. "But I'm good at that too. Maybe we'll go to the shooting range next time."

"Enough with that. I don't think she'll be here for long anyway. What about the other one? Cinder, I think it was? How was your date? We all know you got the first one." Chiyoko' eyes were now burning with hatred. She was obviously used to being first, not second.

"We went to the gardens," said Cinder slowly.

"What did you do?" Pearl prompted.

"We, uh... talked?"

"We all saw that you came back with flowers. Whatever was that for?"

"They were peonies for Peony, Pearl," said Cinder quietly.

Pearl sneered. "Trying to get on the prince's good side, are you? But we all saw the rose he gave you at lunch-" A knock at the door startled them all. A page boy poked his head in.

"His Imperial Highness the prince has requested the company of Miss Linh."

Glares and groans went throughout the room.

"Why her?" Chiyoko snarled. The page boy shrugged.

"I only do as I'm told, Miss. I apologize for the trouble it may cost you. Miss Linh?" Cinder nodded and looked back at Scarlet one last time before going out the door. Scarlet shrugged and gave her a smirk.

"What is it, Your Highness?" Cinder asked, slipping into the hallway.

"Again, it's Kai. Please. Anyways, I wanted to press two fingers to my brows, but I couldn't even see you." Kai tugged at her hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" They started to walk in the direction of wherever it is Kai is taking them.

"Uh, my quarters? My sitting room, actually. Or would you prefer the library? I wanted to go to the gardens, but with that attack an hour ago the guards won't let us out."

"The library, then," Cinder decided. "But why did you want to see me in the first place?" Kai made a show of scrunching his face together.

"I wanted to have some time with you? I haven't seen you since lunch."

Cinder laughed. "And it's been what, three hours?"

Kai glared at her. "Four."

She poked his ribs. "Whatever you say, Your Highness."

"But there was something else, too." Kai leaned closer to Cinder. His breath tickled her ear. "I've been on two other dates. I kept my promise. You said two other girls. So I went with Chiyoko and Scarlet." He made a face. "Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get rid of Chiyoko."

Cinder blushed and laughed nervously. "Kai, I- are you sure about this? You must know by now that I'm just a plain Six, a mechanic. What would you achieve by doing this?"

Kai came closer now. "Happiness," he whispered. "Please? I really don't care about the social hierarchy. I wish to ban the castes when I'm king. But I can't do it without another by my side, supportive and loving through all the struggles."

He was even closer now. Cinder was finding it difficult to breathe. She struggled to hold her gaze with Kai's intense eyes. "Okay," she said softly. Kai moved towards her again. "But only for the kiss. I can't make you throw away perfectly good choices for Princess this early. We don't even know each other that much yet."

Kai grinned at her. "Good."

In an instant, his arms were around her again, and his soft lips on hers. Cinder gasped, then slowly wrapped her arms around his neck. Kai groaned and leaned into her more.

They were both flushed when they stood right again a minute later.

"Library?" Kai asked with pink ears and a smirk.

Cinder smiled shyly at him and took his hand. "Sure **."**

 **Alright, so we're going to be replying to the users that we can't PM. Guest, here is your chapter! sleepingAsAsheep, thank you! You have no idea how much that review meant to us! To know that one'sstory can make another person's day is a wonderful feeling.**

 **To others, keep it up! Read and review, follow and favorite! Tell us what you think of this Kaider fluff. Want more? Review!**

 **We now task every reader with this mission. It is, of course, for the purpose of making this story more enjoyable for you. Which is your OTP, Kaider, Wolflet, Cresswell, Jacinter, or Kiko? Even if only one person voted for an OTP, we would still do our very best to work in more of it into the story! Every vote counts!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Cinder**

The next day, Scarlet came knocking on Cinder's door in the afternoon. Iko answered it, bowing respectfully to the Selection participant.

"Sorry to bother, but is Cinder here?" she questioned. Iko's bright, blue head bobbed.

"I'm sorry, your name?"

"Benoit. Scarlet Benoit."

Craning her head behind the door, she called, "Miss Linh! Miss Benoit is here to see you." Iko stepped aside and made way for Cinder.

"Scarlet!" Cinder exclaimed. "Do you need me for anything?" Scarlet shrugged.

"Just thought we should go do something fun together today," Scarlet answered vaguely, knowing that this would probably be her last day before she would get dismissed. Luckily, Cinder seemed entirely clueless. She nodded and turned to Iko, "If anybody comes while I'm gone, just tell them I'm out."

Iko dipped her head in a respectful nod. "Alright. Have fun, miss!"

Grinning widely, Cinder stepped out of her room and immediately looped her arm through Scarlet's. "So, where are we going today?" she chirped giddily. They walked down the hallway and turned a corner.

"I just thought we could do some baking. It relieves stress, you know."

"Really?"

"I have no idea." They giggled like the were little girls again, and stepped into the kitchen. A blast of hot air shot towards them, courtesy of the ovens and stoves. However, nobody was inside the kitchen. It was just empty.

Scarlet bustled towards the cupboards and opened all of them to find the correct kitchen appliances. It seemed like she would have a hard time finding the right ones, since there were at least two dozen cabinets, drawers, and cupboards inside the royal kitchen.

"Today, we will be baking French macaroons," Scarlet announced, grabbing a roll of parchment paper, a baking tray, a giant sifter, and a piping bag, setting them next to the huge fancy stand mixer that Scarlet had always wished for. To Cinder, however, all of these things were foreign to her. She stared at them in wonder.

Scarlet shot a glance at Cinder, who was still gaping at the tools. "Do you know how to bake?" She shook her head. "Well, I guess I'll just have to teach you, then." Scarlet was just like a bee. She bustled around the kitchen busily, grabbing different ingredients needed.

Finally, she laid them out neatly on the table, helping Cinder tie an apron around her waist. Grabbing the sifter, she set it on a piece of parchment paper. "Here, hold this," she ordered, thumping the heavy bag of sugar into Cinder's arms. She almost fell over from how heavy it was.

As Scarlet measured the amount of sugar needed for the recipe, she asked, "So. How was your date with Kai?" Cinder sighed heavily.

"Well, I don't know. It was okay I guess. I talked a lot about how difficult life was at home, and I was probably just making him listen to all of my useless ramblings. But we became friends and picked flowers-specifically peonies- for Peony." Scarlet stifled a giggle and handed her the bag of finely ground almonds, helping her measure that, too.

"What about _your_ date?" Cinder said.

Scarlet shrugged, letting Cinder dump the almonds in a processor. After letting the almonds go around a few times, Cinder sifted all the mashed almonds into the mixture with the sugar. "We went to the palace grounds to practice archery. Our date didn't really end that well, with all the rebels attacking and stuff." At the mention of the attacks, they grew silent for a while. "I learned something in that date, though." Scarlet said, breaking their short hushed moment.

Cinder turned her curious gaze on Scarlet, who grabbed the metal bowl and placed the beater in Cinder's hands. "Oh?"

"Yeah, turns out that Kai and I weren't really meant for each other. I feel we're more like friends," Scarlet answered. Cinder nodded, understanding her feelings.

"That was something important to know," she smiled. Cinder watched as Scarlet did something complicated with an egg, moving the egg yolk back and forth between the two, cracked egg shells, separating the yolk with the rest of the egg.

In the end, three egg whites were set inside of the bowl.

"I learned something else, too," Scarlet smirked. "This one is important to you." Cinder's curiosity was really piqued. "I was chatting with the Prince while we were hiding from the rebels. I asked the Prince who he liked the most." Scarlet sent a smug look at her friend. "He answered with you."

Cinder fought a blush that struggled to climb up her face. "I'm… honored?" she said in the end, unsure of how to react. Scarlet barked out a laugh and nudged Cinder in the shoulder.

"Come on, we all know you like him back." Cinder didn't answer. Her face burned, and she wasn't sure it would revert to its original color ever again. "Now, come on. Those egg whites aren't going to whisk themselves." She set the bowl of egg whites on the stand mixer and turned it on to medium speed.

Once the whites were starting to mix together, Scarlet gradually poured in the white sugar in with the egg whites, watching Cinder get mesmerized by how fast the whisk was spinning in the bowl. They watched the mixture until it became white and smooth, small creases seen inside. "Who are we making these for?" Cinder asked when Scarlet ordered her to cease the mixing.

"The guards and servants," she answered, taking the bowl out of the mixer and pouring the almond and sugar mixture into the egg whites. Scarlet handed Cinder a spatula and told her to fold the mixes together. "I just thought that this could be a way to repay them for all they've done for us." Cinder smiled fondly at Scarlet's sweet gesture.

Grabbing a toothpick, Scarlet added some red gel food coloring to the mix, making it more colorful. Taking over the bowl, she mixed them together until the batter was a smooth, pink fluid.

She spooned the mixture into a piping bag, tying it up and attaching the head to it. Cinder helped slide the pan over, smoothing a piece of wax paper over it. Scarlet squeezed the mixture into a circular shape, where it rested on the pan.

"So, if you and Kai decided that you can only be friends, does that mean that…" Cinder couldn't finish her sentence. Scarlet smiled sadly, setting the tray aside to let it rest and grabbing another tray lined with parchment.

"Yes. I'll be leaving soon," she confirmed it. After everything was piped, they waited until the macaroons were ready to bake and slid them into the preheated oven. They dusted off their hands and hung the aprons back onto the hook. They chatted for a bit, waiting for the macaroons to finally be ready. Just then, the oven bell rang, interrupting their conversation. Slipping on an oven mitt, Scarlet carefully and skillfully took out the macaroon trays.

Placing it on the counter, she slid her finger gently over the smooth surface of a macaroon, feeling satisfied at the crunchy outer coating of the cookie. Grabbing the raspberry flavored frosting they had made earlier, she piped the frosting onto the cookies before passing them to Cinder to sandwich it between another perfectly rounded cookie.

"Finished!" Cinder crowed triumphantly, feeling accomplished about her first baked macaroons. They high-fived each other. Suddenly, Thorne came in with an unfamiliar looking guard behind him. Scarlet stiffened at his presence. Shooting her a curious look, Cinder wondered how this green eyed man made her so rigid.

"Ooh, food," Thorne grinned, sneaky fingers inching around their bodies and snatched a freshly baked macaroon off of the pan. Scarlet made a sound of protest and tried to smack his hand away, but the pastry was already popped into his mouth. His eyes closed, and he made a satisfied noise. "Nice job, ladies. Tastes great." Cinder glared at him.

"This isn't for you, Thorne, it's for the guards and servants," said Scarlet, crossing her arms. He shrugged.

"I'm captain, am I not?" Immediately, he brightened up. "Ooh, does that mean I get more later, when you bring it to them?" Both of the girls shook their heads. Making sure the macaroons were out of Thorne's reach, Cinder nudged her head towards the guard behind him.

"Care to introduce us to your friend?" Thorne shot a glance behind him and stepped aside, a stupid grin plastered onto his face. He nodded, clapping his hands on the other guard's shoulders. You could see him bristle, a low growl emitting from his throat, baring his sharper-than-normal teeth.

 _He's not entirely human_ , Cinder thought with a hint of fear. "Ladies! This is one of Queen Levana's hybrid guards, Ze'ev Kesley, best known as Wolf." _So. One of Queen Levana's lackies, huh?_ Scarlet whispered his name quietly behind Cinder's shoulder. When Cinder glanced at her, she saw that Scarlet's face color matched her hair. Fire engine red.

They both muttered a quick hello. Moving into action, they both grabbed a pan and tried to inch around the two guards. Eyeing the doorway, Cinder said politely, "Please excuse us. We would like to bring these to the guards and servants?" To their surprise, Thorne agreed and stepped aside.

Not before winking at both of them them, though. Scarlet made a gagging sound behind her.

Before they knew it, they had ran out of the palace and into the gardens, which was where they had all asked them to meet. The ladies were surprised that so many of them showed up, considering they must have jobs. But then Cinder spotted Kai lurking around the corners of the crowd.

Cinder rolled her eyes with a smile. This must have been his doing.

"Thank you all for coming!" Scarlet chirped brightly. They moved forward to place the macaroons onto the picnic table set up in the middle. "We made some macaroons for all of you to enjoy." Both of them curtsied respectfully, which made some of them startle.

A little surprised that higher class would bow to them, they all became flustered and moved around the table, uselessly complimenting how good it tasted to hide it. As Cinder was watching them enjoy the treats they had prepared, she didn't notice Kai sidle up to her until Scarlet told her.

Well. Kind of.

"WOW! The prince is here! I gotta run!" With those words, she sprinted away as fast as she could, cackling wildly. Cinder stared after her with wide eyes, seeing that Kai also had the same reaction. Once they made eye contact, both of them burst out in laughter.

Once they had calmed down, Kai put a hand on Cinder's shoulder. Unknown to him, the simple gesture sent butterflies whirling in her stomach. He leaned closer and whispered, "How have you been?" Cinder visibly flinched as she thought about Chiyoko and Pearl.

"Um… fine," she lied. She shot Kai a reassuring smile. "It's been fun." Kai nodded, then realized how tense Cinder was at this moment. He grabbed her by the hand and led her to chat with the servants.

Whispering in her ear again, he said with a smile, "Come on. Loosen up, Miss Linh. Have some fun." Cinder couldn't stop the next words from blurting out of her mouth, but once it did, she wished she could kick herself all the way back home so that she wouldn't have to face her embarrassment.

"Can't have fun unless you're here, Kai."

For a second, he looked taken aback. Cinder also debated running for the nearest hiding space. But instead of rejecting her, he chuckled and gently took her hand. "Of course, my lady."

* * *

 **Levana**

"Hmm…" the Lunar queen thought aloud. To anybody else, she would seem like she's thinking. Only she knew that that simple sound veiled disgust. From above her room, she looked out her opened window. The veil distorted her view quite regularly, but she could make out one picture very easily.

There, down below in the gardens, was the Prince and Cinder Linh. One constant image burned in her mind, fueling her fury and making her want to go down there and claw the girl's eyeballs out. They were holding hands, and even worse, the Prince seemed to be enjoying it.

Levana grit her teeth, but tried to appear calm. She couldn't seem weak now, could she? Clapping her hands twice, she called to her second in command, "Sybil?"

"Yes?" The servant rose out of the shadows, coming forward with her head bowed. Levana moved her head to face her.

"Inform our little hacker of our new target." She sneered at the name emitting from her lips. "Cinder Linh."

 **To Smile: thanks! And Guest, here it is!**

 **Keep it up guys! Thank you all for reading and reviewing! The poll is still up!**

 **Okay, there's one more thing. Some of you have really good memory and can recall that in Cinder's first letter to Peony (Chapter 6) we wrote that Kai's mother died when he was two. However, Kai said her remembers her death, so we changed it. Sorry!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Cinder**

"Cinder?" A knock at the door startled Cinder out of her dreams.

"Who is it?" she called back. Iko was on her evening break (though Cinder suspected that she was actually on a date) and she was left by herself in the afternoon.

"The amazing, devilishly handsome Captain of the Guards and the Air Force."

Cinder snorted. "Fine, you can come in." The door promptly burst open. "Why are you here?"

"To play a card game!" Thorne shrugged as if it was what a captain and a lady did on a regular basis. "Scarlet's coming, too, when she's done pa- preparing herself," he ended lamely. Cinder narrowed her eyes at him. "Never mind, she'll explain for herself when she gets here."

As if on cue, someone knocked gently on the door again. "Let me in, I'm Scarlet."

"Only if you say 'pretty please, my dear Captain," came the reply from Thorne. Cinder rolled her eyes and could practically feel Scarlet roll hers. "Come in, Scarlet." Scarlet came in wearing jeans and a casual top.

"Why are you wearing that? Aren't we supposed to wear dresses all the time? Or a fancy shirt, at least." Scarlet bit her bottom lip.

"Because I'm leaving?" Cinder froze. "I'm sorry, Cinder. Kai and I are fine with being friends, is all. We do love each other, but not romantically. I'm afraid he's reserved that for you." Scarlet quirked her lips into a small smile.

"Alright," Cinder managed to get out after a moment of silence. "Can we stay friends? You're the only friend I've had besides Peony."

"What about me?" Thorne whined. Scarlet gave Cinder a smile, completely ignoring Thorne.

"That's why I came here, besides playing cards with Carswell here." She handed Cinder a slip of paper. "Here's my phone number and address. Please stay in touch. I know you will."

Cinder was finally smiling, too.

"Thanks so much, Scarlet." Cinder gave Scarlet a hug.

"Are you sure you can't bake those macaroons again before you leave? You know, the ones you and Cinder made two days ago." Thorne was making a pouty face.

"Cinder knows how to make them, Thorne. You can ask her to make them for you." Cinder grinned.

"I know how, but I can't make them as well as you, Scarlet. You know that."

Scarlet sighed and said, "Whatever. At least you learned how to make them. Now, how about that card game?"

They spent the next two hours playing cards, exchanging silly childhood stories. Who would've known that Carswell Thorne had a girlfriend in preschool?

By the time it was dinner, the trio had agreed that they would write letters to each other.

"Are you okay, Cinder?" Kai had come up behind her after dinner.

Cinder sighed. "Scarlet."

Kai wrapped a comforting arm around her. "It'll be okay. She did tell you we're staying friends, right? Besides, you'll have me. You won't be alone." Cinder laughed lightly.

"And the captain." Kai stiffened, but laughed too.

"So you've met him? Please don't call him Captain. His egocan is big enough."

"I won't." Cinder smiled at Kai. "Do you mind if I retreat for the night?"

"Not at all, if you allow me to accompany you back to your room."

Cinder shrugged. "Deal."

* * *

 **Pearl**

"Miss?" Pearl's maid poked her head through the door. "Are you available? Miss Mori would like to see you." Pearl sat up and rearranged her skirt.

"Chiyoko? Let her in, then." She'd barely finished her sentence when the door burst open to reveal Chiyoko with a scowl on her face. Despite that, she was beautiful. Her dress was red, vibrant red, but darker than Benoit's scarlet hair. It had swirls and intricate loops done in gold thread, made to imitate the traditional Chinese dress. Needless to say, it looked wonderful on the Japanese girl.

"I cannot imagine," Chiyoko snarled as she swept into Pearl's room, "what your maid has that could charm the prince! She got the first date, I just saw Prince Kaito walk her back while _blushing_ , and there are rumors from the servants that they were _kissing_ the night of the attack." Chiyoko whirled around. "What is going _on_?"

Pearl's eyes popped out of her head. "You think I would know? I didn't even know she joined until she was selected! None of us did!"

"Then help me kick her out!" Chiyoko shrieked. She stomped over and plopped onto Pearl's bed.

Pearl stared at her. "We can do that?"

Chiyoko rolled her eyes. "Of course we can. Since she's Kaito's favorite, I don't think spreading rumors about her would be a good idea. No, I think framing her would be better. Is she good at making friends?"

Odd, Pearl thought. Odd that she would get it right the first time. "Indeed," she said slowly. "She became friends with a Seven on the plane. You know, the farm girl? Scarlet Benoit, I think it was."

Chiyoko looked thoughtful. "Ah, yes. I think the duo recently started to visit the servants' quarters with snacks? Before Benoit left, of course."

"Oh, but Cinder visits them on her own as well. Do you suppose she knows any of the guards? Perhaps-"

"She does," Pearl interrupted. "How will we have proof of her 'affair'?"

Chiyoko smirked. "Well, I'm sure there are security cameras."

Pearl nodded. "So I'll expose the recording at the right time?"

Chiyoko shrugged. "Unless someone else lets it out first." She stood up. "Well, I'll be on my way. Let me know when there's progress. I'll do likewise." With that, she left.

Unbeknownst to both the girls, Prince Kaito had ordered recorders to be installed in each and every room, to serve as evidence at the right time, undiscovered, in case there were secret plans made. It was only a matter of time, for the tapes were checked only when there was actually a scandal.

So really, for the time being, these two were safe.

* * *

 **Peony**

 _Dear Cinder,_

 _I got it! The second letter from you, and the flowers! I can only imagine what a kind darling Prince Kaito is. His soft hair, dreamy copper-brown eyes, and so much more. Oh! Did you get to run your hands through his hair while kissing him yet? That must feel wonderful!_

 _Did he get you any flowers? I certainly hope he did. It's kind of rude to get flowers for your girlfriend's sister while not getting anything for you girlfriend._

 _You can't imagine my thrill when I got your letter. I was happily reading along when the messenger cleared his throat and handed me the bouquet. It was so pretty! And you let the prince write a bit to me at the end of your letter! I love his handwriting!_

 _Did you know, I've been studying the art of matchmaking. Even without it I can tell you and Kaito are going to make a great couple. I even have a ship name, Kaider! Do you like it?_

 _I think I like this maid of yours. Iko, right? Perhaps maybe I'll get a chance to visit you in the palace and I can meet her. I have a feeling we'll be great friends._

 _So the Lunar court is visiting? I wonder why they're here, during the Selection. Are they as terrible as the rumors? Is Her Majesty as beautiful and horrid as the rumors tell? You've got to tell me all about it!_

 _I'm so sorry I can't write more at the moment. Mom wants me to wash the dishes. Please write back soon, I love you so much, Cinder! Best of luck in the Selection, I know Prince Kai will love you!_

 _Love,_

 _Peony_

 _P.S. My phone broke and I brought it to the shop on the corner. I still can't get used to you not fixing my broken electronics, but there was a cute boy working at the shop! I hope to see more of him :)_

 **Thank you peoples for commenting! Keep it up! We really appreciate the support!**

 **Your next task is simple. Help us come up with a more appropriate name for this story based on what you've read so far! You can also vote for another person's idea for a title. And don't worry, we'll give you credit if we decide to use your idea! Good luck!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Cress**

Cress sighed loudly, lying sprawled onto the carpet with her limbs splayed out around her. Her hair was in a tangled mess, but she was too lazy to brush through it anyways. _I have to find something to do_ , she pouted to herself.

Living alone in a gigantic mansion may seem great to some people, but it can get boring wandering around by yourself. Heaving another sigh, she picked herself off of the carpet and walked towards her room, bare feet scuffling against the ground.

Walking down the hallway, she suddenly paused when she saw strange light spilling out onto the ground before her. Looking around, she searched for the source of the light, and saw that the door to her father's study room was open. Or, what was his study room. He had died years ago.

Eyebrows cocked in surprise, she moved towards it, placing her hand on the doorknob. About to close it, a metallic glint from atop her father's desk caught her eye. Stopping, she stared at it. It was a paper clip, attached to a file, collecting dust over the years. Her father's large, messy scrawl appeared on the file name.

From far away, she could read the writing.

 _Cinder Linh_

Cress' curiosity was piqued. What could her father had seen in that girl that he would have his own file about? Desperately, she wanted to get her hand on those papers. Right when she was about to step in, another memory stopped her.

Closing her eyes, she thought she saw her father's ghost lingering at the edge of the office. She let herself relive the memory. Opening her eyes again, she saw herself when she was little, standing at the doorway and peeking inside.

 _Her eyes were wide as she watched her father busily bustle around, papers and files flying all over the place._

 _Immediately, her father saw her and dashed towards her, bursting out of the office and closing it behind himself. Eyebrows furrowed, he bent down to her height and placed his hands on her frail shoulders._

 _"Oh, Cress, my dear child," he murmured. Little Cress' eyes were wide. "Don't ever look in my office, alright?"_

 _"Why not?" she whined. Her father paused, thinking for a while. Then his mouth softened into a small smile._

 _"There are some things that you should not see."_

Cress thought back to this, debating with herself mentally. Finally, she reached a decision. Opening the door further, she muttered, "Sorry, dad. You're dead now." She stepped foot into the office. Immediately, her steps caused a cloud of dust to rise up. Cress coughed and waved it away, padding towards the desk.

Grabbing the file, she blew all the dust off of it, making them fly in all directions like freed birds from a cage. The file had yellowed with age, and the paperclip was rusty. She ran her fingers across her father's writing.

Smiling slightly, she opened the crinkled folder and took a peek at the multiple papers inside. Yelping in surprise, she jumped back when she thought she saw a dead bug inside. The papers flew out of the folder and fluttered all over the floor, scattering everywhere.

Groaning, she bent down on her knees to pick up each paper. In the end, they became a disorganized pile. Cress heaped all of them onto the desk and plopped down into the old, leather chair, sending another gigantic plume of dust up.

Cress sorted through the papers, finding nothing more interesting than boring articles and random snippets about the Cinder Linh. However, what she did find interesting was that there was no birth certificate at all.

A few pictures of Cinder from when she was little was also present.

Pausing for a moment, Cress poked her head out the door and yelled, "LITTLE CRESS!" After a mechanical beep, a kid's voice came over, echoing through the entire house.

"How may I help you?" Glancing back down at the file, Cress answered, "Would you please run a search on the girl Cinder Linh?" Another beep sounded.

"Searching. Cinder Linh. Currently, she is one of the thirty-five girls in the national competition: The Selection. There is no other information on her. Similar searches include Adri Linh, Pearl Linh, Peony Linh, and Garan Linh." Cress' curiosity was piqued.

"Search Garan Linh, then."

"Searching. Garan Linh. Garan Linh died years ago, after a trip to Luna. He brought home a package, but the contents are unknown. It may have been a child, for after that, a girl mysteriously appeared inside their home."

 _A trip to Luna!_ Cress thought. What business did he have there? Sighing, she said a quick thank you to Little Cress and kept flipping through all the articles and data. All of a sudden, a page more wrinkled than any of the rest slipped out, floating gently onto the ground.

Heaving out another sigh, she bent down to pick it up. Flinging it back onto the table, it flipped right side up, and in bold, red letters, it read:

 _Birth Certificate of Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn of Luna_

Cress' eyes shot wide open.

Princess Selene's Birth Certificate? Her lithe fingers darted out to grab it, bringing it close to her face to see if it was real. Tracing a finger over the ink, she spotted a little seal in the right corner to signify that it was official. It wasn't a fake. Her father had the birth certificate of Princess Selene in his very own office. About to combust from excitement, Cress hollered, "LITTLE CRESS! Run a search on Princess Selene!"

The machine responded immediately.

"Searching. Princess Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn of Luna. She was born of Queen Channary Jannali Blackburn of Luna, although her father is unknown. The princess was killed when she was a toddler in an accidental fire in a nursery. Would you like to see a picture of Princess Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn of Luna?"

"Yes, please." A mechanical beep echoed through the house, and all of a sudden a holographic image of Selene appeared in front of Cress' face. With a gasp, she realized that the photo of Princess Selene and Cinder were the exact same.

Running her fingers through her long tangled hair that had grown almost past her knees due to all the years stuck inside this satellite, Cress gasped, "It can't be!" Filing through the papers once again, she couldn't find anything to deny it. Instead, overwhelming evidence spilled out at her. "Cinder is Princess Selene!"

The house was silent after her sudden realization. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind. She would have to find a way to communicate with that girl. If she found out her true identity, Cinder would have the power to completely overthrow Queen Levana.

Cress brain was running at a mile a minute, but the phone suddenly interrupted her train of thought. She yelled at the machine to answer it. With a click, Sybil Mira's voice came on over the speakers, her face appearing in front of Cress.

"Cress," she said in a bored tone. It was cold and devoid of life, and the Queen's first in command wasted no time with introductions.

"Yes?" the girl answered timidly, inconspicuously scooting the papers off of the desk and back into the file.

"My queen would like you to run a search."

Cress nodded hurriedly, answering, "Of course. Anything. Who is it?"

"Somebody not of importance," Sybil answered, as if she were trying to convince the researcher not to search deeper. "Cinder Linh."

 **Thank you, captainquinnzel, for your suggestion! We will take it into consideration.**

 **Please review, follow, and favorite!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Cinder**

After Kai had escorted her to her room, she immediately plopped onto the bed. Iko stopped for a moment to stare at her, putting down her needlework. Currently, she was sewing Cinder's new dress for the next news update. A news update without Scarlet. Cinder shrugged off the thought, ignoring the slight pang in her heart.

"Would you like me to get your bath ready, miss?" Iko asked, standing up and inching towards the bathroom. Cinder shook her head into her pillow, voice muffled by the cloth.

"No, I'm fine. I just want to go to sleep. You should rest, too," Cinder replied, shrugging her dress off and changing into her thin, comfortable nightgown. She fell back onto the bed again while Iko giggled at her, returning to her needlework.

After five minutes of staring at the popcorn ceiling of her room, however, Cinder realized that her jittery nerves were not going to let her nap. Head shooting up, she slipped her feet into her shoes and stood up. Iko raised an eyebrow, saying, "Didn't you want to sleep?"

Cinder smiled sheepishly. "I don't know. I just don't feel tired all of a sudden." Pulling the shoes up her heels, she said, "I'll be right back. See ya later, Iko!" Shuffling out the door, she closed it after her, stepping into the dark hallway. Looking both ways, she suddenly realized she didn't know where to go.

Going down the hallway, Cinder let her body lead the way. Before she knew it, she had made it to the door of the room where all of the jets, airplanes, and aircrafts were stored. When she pressed her ear to the door, she thought she could hear some shuffling inside.

Locking her fingers around the metal door handle, Cinder lurched the door towards the side, the door cracking open silently. Stepping inside, she could see the blonde head of Thorne under a jet, squinting at the inner workings of the aircraft.

The jet looked completely dead. One side of the aircraft was bruised, and some parts were even caved in. The nose of the jet was ripped off, slim pieces of metal hanging off of it. Black scratch marks lined the side.

Unfortunately, Thorne looked utterly and completely baffled.

"Thorne," Cinder whispered, inching closer to him. Startled, he yelped and thumped his head against the underside of the jet. Oil spilled onto his blonde hair, the color contrast as distinct as ink on paper. Cinder smiled a little at his clumsiness. Groaning, the captain slid out from under it and stood up.

"What are you doing out here so late?" he hissed, still massaging his scalp.

Cinder shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," she answered simply. Nodding her head towards the seemingly broken jet, she asked, "What's wrong with it?"

"Just a few kinks to work out, that's all," Thorne explained. "Seems too complicated for a woman to solve, it seems." Cinder growled at him and hit him.

"For your information," she added, wandering over and plucking the gloves off of his hands, "I was a mechanic before the Selection. I trust that I'm _much_ more experienced than you in engineering, based on how confused you looked earlier." Thorne snorted but didn't deny it.

Brushing her nightgown aside, Cinder slid under the aircraft easily. From here, she saw all the wires and machinery laid carefully inside of the jet. Prying apart the inner workings to find out the problem, she felt right at home. After a few minutes of inspecting it, she had already figured out what was wrong.

Smirking, she poked her head out from under the jet and said, "I've already figured out the problem. Simply, it's that the engine has failed, so we'll probably have to replace it." Shaking her head, Cinder pulled herself out from the jet and stood up, dusting herself off. "I can't believe you flew in with one failed engine."

Thorne scratched his head sheepishly and admitted, "Yeah, I kind of crashed into an open field." Chuckling lightly, Cinder turned to walk towards the table with all the tools on it.

"Luckily, I know exactly how to fix it- WHOA!" With a yelp, Cinder tripped over a stray scrap of metal lying on the floor. The ground rushed to meet her, but before she could hit the hard, cold ground, two strong arms tugged her back. When Cinder opened her eyes again, she was face to face with Thorne.

They were so close that their noses almost brushed together, and if they moved just the least slightest, they could be kissing. Stunned into a silence, Cinder could do nothing but stare, like a deer in headlights. She was mentally freaking out.

"Take a picture, it will last longer," Thorne drawled sarcastically. Snapping back to her senses, she quickly pushed him away.

"Don't flatter yourself, Captain," she snarled before stomping back to her room.

* * *

 **THE NEXT DAY**

Today was supposed to be a fairly uneventful day for the Selection. Kai had updated the rest of the country on the progress of the Selection, and who had been eliminated. Cinder wondered if Scarlet was watching them from the other side of the screen.

However, today Cinder decided she would be lazy. Surprisingly, prancing everywhere in high heels was painful, and gave her more of a workout. So she plopped onto her bed, kicking those wretched shoes off and laid back, relaxing.

Picking up the remote, she called to Iko, "Let's watch the television together!" Her maid's blue head popped in, and she immediately sat down next to Cinder, bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Anything good?" Cinder asked, surfing through the different channels. Iko shrugged. Most of them were children's shows, the news update they just filmed, or some other news that showed excited faces of the reporters.

Suddenly, the television glitched. Iko and Cinder made a surprised noise as the screen went black, then blipped back on a second later. An image of a girl popped up. She had long, blonde hair and a worried face, eyes darting back and forth constantly.

"Cinder," she said in a quiet voice, filled with urgency.

"How do you know my name-"

"It doesn't matter right now. We don't have time." Seeing the skeptical look on Cinder's face, the girl heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry. Everything will be explained later. But I have some news that you really need to know." Cinder's eyebrow shot up. "Have you ever questioned where you come from?"

 _What_ _a random question,_ Cinder thought. _Out of the blue._ But she answered it anyways. She shook her head slowly. The mysterious girl cocked her head to the side, a small smile on her lips. Then her worried expression appeared again as she peeked at the time.

"Oh dear," she squeaked. "I'm sorry. We have to cut our meeting short." Her eyes turned grave. "You have to remember this, Cinder," she said seriously. But by now, Cinder had to know why the ridiculous question was asked, but before she could protest, the girl rushed, "As I said before, everything will be explained later." Another glance at the clock. The tiny lady's fingers danced over a keyboard, clicking buttons all over the place. "Cinder. You're the missing Princess Selene."

Then her twitching fingers paused. "Oh," she added. "And be careful." The television went black again, then the channel they were on previously popped up once more. It was like nothing ever happened, but Cinder was frozen in place, her brain unable to process what she had just heard.

 _She is the missing Princess Selene? How is that possible?!_

Trying to convince herself that that was a scam, she tried to focus on what was currently on the television.

An image of a grave looking face of a news anchor appeared.

"Breaking news," the reporter announced. From the corner, an image was enlarged, showing a dark, grainy video of two people. With a gasp, Cinder realized that the dark mess of brown hair was hers, and that the electric blonde was Thorne's. Broken aircraft surrounded them, and all of a sudden the girl in the video tripped. He caught her, and from this angle, it looked like they were currently in the middle of a deep kiss.

Iko let out a startled gasp. "Miss?" she asked timidly.

 _Shoot_. This footage was from last night. Somebody had secretly recorded it and released it to the media. _This was not good_.

"Cinder Linh, a competitor from the Selection, was caught having a love affair with who we have interpreted as Captain Thorne, head of the Royal Air Force." The shot zoomed in on their pixelated faces as their profiles floated in the top right corner. "Having a relationship outside of the Selection is strictly forbidden, considered treason, and punishable by death. However, Prince Kaito has seemed to take a strange liking to this lady. What will her punishment be?"

By now, Cinder's lips had turned deathly pale.

"Miss?" Iko asked again, a warning seeping into her usually calm voice.

Spinning around, Cinder put her hands on her maid's shoulders and explained, "This is not real, Iko. I tripped, and - and he caught me - but… the angle, that's why it looks strange!" she stuttered. Iko looked like she believed her, but Cinder was still freaking out. "Oh my gosh, what do I do? This is on national television, and by now the prince and the emperor would have found out. I'll be disgraced, at the very least, but like the reporter said, the punishment is death. And now, suddenly I'm known as the long-lost Princess Selene and my entire life is a lie!" Her face turned a sickly white. "I'm doomed. _Doomed_ , Iko!"

Before Iko could say anything, the door to her bedroom burst open. Cinder shrieked and immediately dropped into a protective stance, but it was only Thorne that had appeared at her door. His chest was heaving, struggling to catch his breath. Also, he was armed to the teeth with pistols and daggers.

"Cinder," he gasped urgently once he had enough air. "We have to go. Now."

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	15. Chapter 15

**Chiyoko**

"How boring," Chiyoko drawled, picking at her perfectly manicured nails. She was perched on the edge of her bed, half watching television and half yawning at all of the things they say. Patting her mouth lightly to conceal her yawn, she sighed and switched the channel.

A reporter's excited face came on. "Oh, _another_ news channel," Chiyoko groaned loudly. Taking her long hair out of the constricting bun, she let it fall past her shoulders, leaning back into the pillow. Her dainty eyes fluttered shut, the words of the reporter humming quietly in the background.

"-Cinder Linh was caught having an affair during the Selection-"

"WHAT?!" Chiyoko shrieked, shooting up from the bed and startling her maid. Grabbing the remote, she turned the volume loud to hear what the reporter was saying.

"-From footage caught in the aircraft room in the palace, it is showing Cinder Linh and Carswell Thorne kissing." Chiyoko clapped a hand over her mouth, gears turning in her head. _This must be Pearl's doing,_ she thought, smiling evilly.

Suddenly, she heard hurried footsteps rushing next door.

 _That's right. Cinder is right next to me!_ Immediately pressing an ear against the wall, she could hear their hushed conversation.

"Cinder. We have to go."

Peeling her ear away from the wall, Chiyoko jumped out of bed and yelled for her maid to help her put on her shoes. She gave herself no time to slip her heels inside before rushing out, just in time to see the last trail of Cinder's dress whoosh past her doorway.

Smiling, Chiyoko grabbed the end of her gown and tugged. With a surprised yelp, Cinder tripped over herself and fell to the ground. Thorne caught sight of this as his eyes grew wide, flickering to the end of the hallway, where the heavy clatter of the guard's boots were starting to grow louder.

 _It's now or never._ Conjuring up fake tears, Chiyoko let them fall freely down her face, painting her beautiful cheeks. Fisting the escaping girl's dress, she sobbed, "Oh my gosh! Cinder, please don't leave, I'll miss you so much!" The Japanese girl almost wanted to gag at that, but she had to keep up the act.

Gritting her teeth, she glanced at the guards, who were finally in sight. _Just a bit longer,_ she told herself. And so Chiyoko resumed her fake crying while Cinder tried to struggle out of her grasp. Thorne was feebly pulling her arm, but Chiyoko's nails were digging painfully into her skin.

"Let me go!" she cried loudly, trying to unlatch the girl from her leg.

By now, the loud noises had drawn the other girls of the Selection out of their rooms. With conflicted and confused gazes, their eyes stared at Chiyoko crying, then at the guards, unsure of what to do. They just stared.

Finally, with one last yank, Cinder's dress came free with a loud rip. Snarling, Chiyoko lunged forward again, but the girl had already darted out of their grasps. The guards rushed past them, hot on their heels. Chiyoko was left kneeling on the floor, shreds of Cinder's gown in her curled fists. Her fake tears were long dry.

* * *

 **Thorne**

"Why are you so slow?" he cried incredulously as Cinder gathered up what was left of her gown, rushing after him.

"If you've forgotten, I'm running in high heels!" she yelled back.

"Take them off!"

With a kick behind her, Cinder's wickedly long heel connected with somebody's knee cap, letting that guard fall to the ground with a cry. Shaking the shoe off, she began to run barefoot, feet padding against the lush carpet. This way, she sped up, able to keep up with Thorne, and they lost most of the guards.

"This way!" Thorne suddenly shouted, grabbing her arm and yanking her around a corner. Shoving open the door, he dragged both of them inside and slammed it behind them, hurriedly locking the door. While he caught his breath, Cinder absorbed their surroundings.

"The aircraft room!" Cinder wheezed, realizing where they were. Smiling crookedly, Thorne nodded and ran forward towards a jet. "Oh no, no, no," Cinder tutted once she spotted where he was heading. He glanced back and saw Cinder pointing at it judgmentally. "No. Wasn't that the one that we _just_ fixed yesterday?"

"Yup!" Thorne popped out, patting the side of the aircraft lovingly. "It's the Rampion. Built for speed, and good as new, thanks to your help."

Still, the flattery did nothing to convince the girl.

"Still, why a jet? Do you know how impractical a jet is? And how dangerous it is, especially for a quick getaway. Is there even enough space inside for us to store our weapons, supplies, and food? Is there even a place to sleep?!" Cinder questioned. Thorne was at a loss of words for her sudden burst of questions.

"And honestly, haven't you ever heard that if a bird were to hit the window of the jet, full speed and full speed, it could send the entire vehicle crashing-"

A sudden bang interrupted her speech. Startled, Thorne whipped out his pistol and pointed it towards the direction of the noise. But then, he lowered it when he saw a familiar face.

"Wolf?" he hissed when he saw the hybrid crouched on the top of the Rampion. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to go with you," Wolf answered in a gruff voice, cocking his head to the side. Thorne opened his mouth to protest, but his words were cut off once again. He scowled as the door shook with harsh knocks.

"Open up right away!" a guard gruffly ordered, another series of knocks following his words. This time a different voice spoke.

"Please, Cinder." It was the prince's voice. "I don't want to make this too difficult." The captain glanced sideways at her, seeing that her body had considerably stiffened. Thorne sighed in exasperation. _Darn the effect that Prince Kaito has on her,_ he growled inwardly. Before she could change her mind, Thorne grabbed her arm and guided her to the jet, shoving her inside, Wolf climbing in after her.

"Alright, no time to talk," Thorne said quickly, jumping into the driver's seat and buckling up. With a click of a button, the door had shut, and the engine was roaring. From inside, they could see the door shaking as the guards on the other side struggled to break it open.

Looking up, Thorne smiled as the thrill sunk in. He clicked a button on the ceiling of the jet, and the exit to the landing area started to open, revealing the crisp, blue sky to them. With a jolt, the jet started forward, the dull roar of the engine playing in the background.

"Ready?" he asked, not waiting for an answer. When he looked back, he saw Cinder with a pale face, Wolf also considerably paler. "I take it that you've never flown before." Looking forward again, he placed his hands on the wheel. "Whatever. Just buckle up." And with that, Thorne jerked the stick forward, and the jet burst through the barrier with a sudden burst of speed.

They shot through the barrier and into the air, the takeoff fairly smooth in a rushed situation.

Not five minutes through their flight, Thorne spotted the kingdom's backup jets zooming after them. From the bottom of their aircraft, weapons lowered, aimed towards the Rampion. Thorne cackled wildly as one of the missiles zoomed towards them, and he made a gigantic loop in the sky.

Cinder flinched at the sudden change in pressure, gripping the chair seat until her knuckles turned white. Wolf looked queasy. When the captain shot him a look, he managed to say, "Wolves work better on land."

When the ship uprighted again, Cinder let out a small breath and relaxed, peering out the window.

"Captain. Please land your ship immediately," came a voice from the overhead of the jet. Grabbing the radio, Thorne put it to his lips and answered, "Sorry. No can do. We're on a mission." Chucking the radio backwards with a shrug, he shut off all communication with the palace, moving the jet forward full speed.

The jet gave a jolt as a missile exploded extremely close to them. Thorne grunted as he steadied the aircraft. "Sorry, guys," he apologized. "This is going to be a rough ride."

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	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you, Guests, for showing us support! Here's the next chapter!**

 **Kai**

Brokenhearted. That's how Kai felt at the moment. He had been so sure Cinder was the right one for him. They enjoyed each other's company so much- or at least, he did. But even if she didn't, they were good enough friends for her to have told him, right?

But no, it seemed.

When the footage was released, Kai was in shock and disbelief. Surely Cinder and what seemed to be Carswell Thorne, his best friend and guard, knew the rules of the Selection. Especially Cinder, since she's a part of it. Besides, though Thorne hit on girls pretty often, he didn't go for Cinder's type. She was pretty, no doubt, but he usually went for the type that go to clubs. The ones that show too much skin for Kai's liking. It was scandalous to him.

But once again, he was wrong.

For when he sent for the captain of the Guard and Air Force, he was not to be found. Neither was Cinder. Nor a Rampion jet that was reported to be in repair.

And Cinder was a mechanic, wasn't she? He couldn't ignore the truth much longer. His best friend and a girl he was actually interested in for once had escaped.

Together.

A knock from the door shook him from his dream-like state on the couch in his office. "Your Highness?" Kai groaned, sitting up and smoothing out his shirt. Much good that did to its crumpled state.

"What is it?" Torin entered the room.

"It seems that we have found the one responsible for releasing the footage of the... affair to the media."

Kai winced. "Torin, please, don't... I can't think of it as an affair."

"Your Highness, I am sorry to say that it indeed looks like an affair. But wouldn't you like to know who it was that released the information before it was even processed by the palace technicians?"

"Yes." Kai sat up. "I'm sorry, Torin. Proceed."

"It seems, my prince, that the one who released the footage was none other than the stepsister of Cinder Linh."

Kai jolted. "Pearl Linh? How?"

"The tech personnel found evidence. They have hidden cameras in the tech room, and many other programming techniques that they can use to track the identity of the user."

Kai covered his eyes. "So the proof? It's reliable? We're sure it's Pearl Linh?"

Torin sighed. "Yes. I know you don't want to deal with this, but you must."

"Well, I'll go and find Miss Linh-" Once again, he was interrupted by a knock.

"Your Highness and Royal Advisor, Miss Mori is requesting entrance," the page boy reported with a salute.

"Let her in," Kai responded as he sat up and tried, again, to smooth his shirt. He stood up just in time, for Chiyoko Mori swept into the office with what seemed like a distressed look.

"Your Highness, are the rumors true?" She curtsied hastily and awkwardly. _Odd_ , Kai thought. _Wasn't she a Two?_

"The rumors?" Torin was absurdly calm. Maybe it was just his diplomatic mask.

"Surely you've heard about them?" Chiyoko walked to the couch that Kai had just stood up from and sat down, leaning closer to him than he would've been comfortable with, especially now that Cinder wasn't here. Cinder is the only one that he would want to have that close.

 _No_.

Cinder _was_ the only one he wanted that close. Not anymore.

"Your Highness?" Torin's voice brought him back to reality.

"I apologize, Miss Mori. You can proceed." He leaned away from her.

"Why, the rumors of how Miss Pearl Linh was the one who exposed the video! You would've thought that family cared for each other." She jutted out her bottom lip in a fake pout.

Kai cleared his throat. "Actually, we have heard. And it's not a just a rumor, we have proof."

Chiyoko covered up her disappointment of not being the first one to break the news with surprise quickly etched into her features. "Proof?"

Kai swallowed. "Yes, proof that Pearl Linh was indeed the one who exposed the clip. We are currently deciding what to do with her."

Chiyoko immediately sat up. "As the likely future queen of the Commonwealth," she started, not noticing Kai's flinch, "I suggest that you remove Pearl Linh from the Selection immediately. How can anyone be so heartless as to... incriminate their own family?"

As much as he didn't trust Cinder anymore, he knew, more or less, about the relationship between her and Pearl. He sighed.

"Don't make assumptions about everything, Miss Mori. I'm sure they have their own story."

Chiyoko wrinkled her nose. "Well, to be frank, I don't care."

Torin cleared his throat. "Miss Mori, I have some other important matters to discuss with the prince. Would you mind leaving for a little while? I'm sure the prince will come for you later." He he promptly ignored Kai's glare.

"Oh, of course." Chiyoko stood up and bowed. Properly, though, quite unlike the way she'd been when she first entered. _Strange_. With one last wink to Kai that almost made him puke, Chiyoko left the room. Kai let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, Torin."

Torin nodded. "I could sense your discomfort. But really, take the girl's words into consideration."

"You mean, banish Miss Linh from the Selection?"

"I think so, Your Highness. If Miss Mori knows about this, I have no idea how many other girls know. And suppose word gets out that we didn't punish someone who has been confirmed to have committed a crime-"

"Then we would either be dealing with uncivilized girls or an angry country of people demanding justice. Both, most likely." Kai sighed. "Yes, I suppose we'll have to do as she said."

* * *

 **Cress**

INCOMING VIDEO CALL FROM FIRST-TIER THAUMATURGE OF THE QUEEN OF LUNA, SYBIL MIRA. ACCEPT?

Cress rolled her eyes at the long title. She hit "Accept", knowing if she didn't, there would be severe punishments. Sybil's face appeared on the big screens Cress was working on. "Hello, Crescent." Cress merely bowed her head in greeting. She was Luna's prized hacker, not a lowly servant. "How are you doing?"

"Well."

Sybil glared at her. "I meant on the search project on Cinder Linh."

Cress swallowed. She had figured she would have to lie to protect Princess Selene, but she never expected to occur this soon. "Well, I looked her up, and the only information concerning her was that she joined the Selection. I'm currently hacking into different databases to see what I can get."

Sybil nodded, even though there was a tinge of disappointment in her gaze. Cress winced inwardly as she realized that the work she was doing wasn't good enough. If she didn't improve in her studies, Cress would be… cut off.

"Continue in your work, then, Crescent," Sybil said coldly. With that, the connection was cut off by Sybil.

Cress sighed. What in the world was she supposed to do next? Cinder- no, Selene- had gotten herself kicked out of the Selection and escaped with a certain Captain Carswell Thorne. Cress blushed at the mention of his name. He was a good looking captain, too.

There was also a rumor that the missing mutant guard, Kesley, had joined the duo on the Rampion jet discovered to be missing. Some say that Kesley had joined as a spy on the orders of the queen herself. Others, like Cress, believe that he actually wanted to join them to escape. Cress knew Ze'ev, and she also knew he never wanted to join Queen Levana's guard, especially as a mutant soldier.

Her screens pinged again, notifying her of another message. Hoping it wasn't Sybil again, she was delighted to find that it was from Princess Winter. _Can_ _I_ _come_ _over_ _with_ _Jacin_ _in_ _fifteen?_

Cress responded immediately. _Sure_.

Besides Ze'ev, Winter and Jacin were her only friends. Before he passed, Sage Darnel had been one of the most successful doctors for the royal family. He often brought Cress along with him, and she became friends with the trio. They made a splendid group, but Cress, even as the socially awkward girl she believed herself to be, had noticed Winter holding off a part of herself.

She only heard about it years later, when Jacin told her about how Winter and Selene had been best friends until Selene died when she was three and Winter was four. She's afraid to hold on to something for fear of losing it, Cress had realized.

A knock at the door startled her from her reverie. "Stars, Winter, you know there are things called doorbells? You just press that button here-" the sound of birds chirping echoed through the house, "and the person inside knows you're here!" That had most definitely come from Jacin.

Cress could hear Winter's silvery laugh as she headed downstairs to the door. "It's fine, Jacin. I'm sure that Crescent knows we're here. I told her so."

Cress opened the door. "You know," she said, grinning at the pair, "I could hear you two talking from upstairs. There's really no need to knock. Or ring the doorbell," she added, glancing at Jacin.

"So, why the visit?" Cress asked when they had settled down with cookies and some lemonade.

"Just wanted to visit you, and to see if you've been doing any more awesome work." Winter leaned forward. "Anything interesting?"

Cress swallowed. Should she tell them about Selene? "I was ordered to research a teenage girl," she said slowly, searching Winter's face for her reaction. "Cinder Linh."

Winter paused, then nodded slowly. "The girl in the Commonwealth's Selection?"

"Yes." Cress pursed her lips. "And I found out her true identity, one that she didn't even know until I told her." She took a deep breath. "Winter, she's the lost princess of Luna. Her real name is Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn."

Winter's eyes were as big as the full moon and she shook her head fiercely. "No. No. It's impossible. There's no way Selene can be alive." She looked at Cress with pleading eyes. "Right?"

Cress bit her lip. "She was smuggled to the Commonwealth, Winter. By Logan Tanner."

Slowly, apprehension appeared in Winter's eyes. "The doctor that disappeared a week after the fire."

Cress nodded. "Selene is alive. I've already informed her of her identity. But it seems we have a complication." She turned back to her screens. "Search 'Cinder Linh'." Immediately, results popped up, most with headlines that ran "AFFAIR INSIDE CASTLE WALLS!" or something of the sort.

Winter shook her head. "Selene wouldn't do anything like that." She peered at the screen through her curls. "Besides, don't Selene and Kaito appear to be in love with each other?"

Cress sighed. "I certainly hope so. We can't do anything about it." She stood up and looked at the almost-couple in front of her. "But I can say with confidence, that she will be paying us a visit soon."

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	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you, once again, Guests, for Reciewing! As for poor Kai, well... you'll see, sooner or later ;)**

 **Cinder**

"Finally," Thorne groaned, slumping back into his chair as they finally burst into the open sky. In this area, it was temporarily devoid of the kingdom's fighter jets. Sighing in relief, he smacked the autopilot button and unbuckled himself, ambling over to where Wolf and Cinder sat.

Currently, Wolf and Cinder seemed to be having a miniature staring match. Tension crackled between them; so thick that you could almost see it, zapping across each other. The captain broke it by slapping both of them on the backs. Wolf let out a low growl, but they broke their gaze.

It was clear that Cinder didn't trust the hybrid guard, but still, for now she let it slide.

"Where to, Cinder?" Thorne chirped merrily. Cinder glared at him.

"Last time I checked, I was the one leading this mission, so what are you supposed to call me?" she snapped. Without waiting for him to answer, she said, " _Captain_." Thorne made an appalled face, nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Hey! I'm the captain!" he protested as Cinder stood up to make her way to the nose of the jet. "I'm the one that's flying the jet."

"Not anymore, you aren't," Cinder said with a smile, swiping across the screen built inside of the jet to locate themselves. Grinning, she followed the red dot showing the jet's flight path. "Perfect! We're almost right above Scarlet's home." Wolf suddenly perked up.

"Scarlet?" he asked. It was the first time he had spoken since they had boarded the jet. Cinder glanced over at him for a second and nodded. "What about her?"

"We're going to fetch her, obviously," Cinder answered. "Knowing her, she wouldn't want to miss out on any of the action." Surprisingly, the hybrid guard cracked a grin, showing off his pointy teeth. Then, Cinder turned to the grumbling Thorne. "Land the jet near her home." Mumbling profanities, he plopped down into the chair and reluctantly did what Cinder ordered.

Clasping her hands together, she said in an authoritative tone, "All right! If we're in this as a group, we're going to have to establish some rules." Thorne's complaints grew louder. She held up a finger, ignoring him. "First. I would like you all to pledge your loyalty to me."

"Oh, so she becomes captain and all of sudden she wants us all to-" Cinder stops his rambling with a nice, long smack to the side of his head. However, Wolf just simply dipped his head low, a clear sign of submission. "My loyalty is yours." She grinned.

"Thorne. You too." With another grumble, he nodded curtly and suddenly jerked the jet lower towards the ground, causing Cinder to stumble. Catching herself on the side of a chair, she murmured, "Gosh, what a kid."

"We're about to land, _captain_ ," Thorne said disdainfully as the green field neared them. "You might want to buckle up."

* * *

 **Scarlet**

"Grandmere, is there anything to do?" Scarlet yelled into the kitchen. Holding a kitchen knife, she spotted her grandmother's unruly head of gray hair flash for a second.

"Not to my knowledge!" she answered. "I'm just making dinner."

Scarlet hummed in acknowledgement and plopped down onto the rickety, wooden chair. Turning on the television, she surfed through the channels until she found one broadcasting the Selection. _I wonder how Cinder's doing_ , she mused.

But instead of the usual show, the news popped up.

 _"-footage shows that one of the Selection participants, Cinder Linh, and one of the kingdom's own captain had an affair!"_

"WHAT?!" Scarlet yelled, bursting forward in her chair.

"Goodness me!" her grandmother shouted from the kitchen. Scarlet heard a clatter to indicate that something had dropped, but all she wanted to know right now was whether this news was true or not.

From the corner, a video popped up. It was grainy and dark, but Scarlet could clearly make out Cinder's body frame. Furrowing her brows, it indeed did look like an affair. But she knew Cinder. That girl would never do anything like that. "Not true…" she murmured.

Suddenly, from outside, she started to hear a dull roar. Glancing outside, she saw nothing through the window. All that was seen was the regular crops, waving gently in the wind. "Huh," Scarlet huffed. Raising her voice, she yelled, "Grandma! Did you leave the motor on?"

"What motor?" she called back. The roar turned even louder, and outside, the crops seemed to be waving more wildly. So her grandma didn't know what was going on, either. Grunting, Scarlet shot up as the roar grew deafeningly loud. Running towards the back door, she threw it open, giving a surprised yell as the wind immediately whipped her hair and red hoodie back.

Glaring up into the sun, she saw - of all things - a jet landing in the middle of their field. "Grandmere!" Scarlet screamed in a higher pitch. "Why is there a jet in our field?" The roar suddenly ceased, and the jet door creaked open. The red headed girl slowly closed the door until it was only open a crack, peeking through it to see who would step out. First, a feminine figure showed.

"OH MY STARS!" Scarlet screeched, throwing open the doorway when she recognized it. "CINDER?!"

"Cinder? Who's Cinder?" her grandmother asked, using a rag to dry a plate.

"Grandma, I think I have to go," Scarlet told her, holding her hands together. Eyes wide in alarm, her grandmother gazed at her in surprise.

"Go? Go where?"

"I'll be back, Grandmere," she kept saying, not answering her question. Already, she was backing out the doorway, towards the jet and the beckoning girl standing alone in the field. In a haste, her grandmother dropped both the rag and the plate as she rushed towards her.

The plate shattered. Glancing at the jet, her grandmother's eyes suddenly softened in understanding. Though filled with tears and the sorrow of letting go, she nodded once. "Be safe," she whispered.

Scarlet nodded vigorously and smiled in what she was hoping would comfort her grandmother. Waving her last goodbye, she turned around and sprinted towards the jet, not able to look back.

What she would've seen, however, was her grandmother, standing alone among a field of wheat. More beautiful than she would've ever seen.

* * *

 **Levana**

"It's working," Levana purred as she saw Prince Kai and the emperor fighting outside in the palace courtyard. "My plan to acquire the prince is working."

"Congratulations, my queen," Sybil said respectfully, accommodating it with a low bow. Levana frowned, twisting her blood red lips into an ugly scowl.

"Still, there is still one thing standing in my way. I'll have to get rid of that obstacle." Her long, manicured nails clacked against the window pane impatiently.

"What might that be, Your Majesty?" Sybil questioned.

Levana's lips curled into a maniacal grin. "The emperor."

 **Please review! Tell us what you like and what you don't like so we can make this story better for you!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Levana**

"Is this fine, Your Majesty?" Sybil asked quietly, accommodating her words with a bow. Levana turned away from the window and glanced towards the vial resting on Sybil's waiting palm.

Carefully, she plucked the vial of poison off of Sybil's hands, inspecting it in the dim light. "Perfect," Levana purred with satisfaction. "And I expect that this concoction will be poured into the emperor's dinner at the royal banquet tonight?"

Sybil dipped her head respectfully. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Levana's perfectly painted eyebrow arched elegantly. With a bite underlying her tone, she continued, "And everything will go to plan, am I correct?"

Again, Sybil nodded. "We will not fail you, Your Majesty."

"Hmm. I would think not," the Lunar queen responded flippantly, turning back to the window. Taking that as her dismissal, Sybil bowed once more and backed out of the room slowly.

Meanwhile, Levana smiled evilly as she watched the emperor take his daily stroll outside in the palace gardens. Little did he know what would happen to him next.

* * *

 **Cinder**

"Wow, the banquet, how exciting," Scarlet drawled sarcastically as she watched the news through the tiny television plugged into the jet's walls.

From the nose of the jet, Thorne called curiously, "The banquet? It's tonight?"

"Yeah. And Her Nasty, Disgusting, Needs-to-go-die Royal Majesty is also attending. I'm sure Kai will enjoy that." At the mention of the prince's name, Cinder noticeably stiffened. She was glad that she was alone in a room, tinkering with some of the jet's broken counterparts.

"What happens at the banquet?" Wolf asked. He and Scarlet were sitting side by side, knees touching, sharing a can of tomatoes. Grabbing the fork from Scarlet, he popped another red vegetable into his mouth.

Grabbing it back from him, Scarlet shrugged. "I don't know. I guess all of the important people just group together for one big feast and pig out and get fat or something." She chomped on another tomato, juice squirting out onto her mouth. Wolf handed her a napkin, which she accepted gratefully.

"Actually, it's just one gigantic broadcast for the Selection. I'm sure you noticed there haven't been many Selection broadcasts lately, so this is supposed to make up for it. Settle any skirmishes on the borders and keeping the public busy. Everybody's attending. Including the Emperor."

"Huh. Isn't that kind of dangerous?"

"How?"

"Grouping all the royals in one room at one time."

Thorne shrugged from the pilot seat. "I guess. But the security is really packed that day. Nobody's going to get through."

* * *

 **Kai**

"Another banquet, another day," Kai sighed, bored as the maids adjusted his suit for the thousandth time today. Torin handed the maids the red sash that was supposed to drape across the prince's chest.

"Indeed, my prince," he answered.

"Is this just another publicity stunt?"

There's a pause before Torin answers.

"Some might phrase it that way. I would call it entertainment for the public."

Kai sighed again. So he was right. Pulling on his silk gloves, he stepped down from the step that the maids had put him on so that they could fit his suit. Glancing at his desk, he frowned slightly at Cinder's red high heel, still resting on top of all the files.

"It would do you no good to keep on dwelling on Miss Linh," Torin said suddenly, cutting through Kai's thoughts. Kai scoffed and turned away from the shoe.

"I'm not thinking about her, Torin."

"Then why do you have that expression on whenever you _do_ think about her?" his advisor calmly answered back. Kai pursed his lips, having no answer to that question. Waving it away, he opened the door and stepped out of his room.

"Forget it, Torin. It's time for the banquet anyways. No time to think about a fugitive."

"Wise words, my prince."

* * *

With a loud fanfare signalling the royals' arrival, Kai and his father burst forth through the door, met with the faces of many other important faces in the political world, all dressed in either tuxedos or fancy gowns.

Kai put on a dazzling smile for show. Many of the girls down below squealed.

"Sit down, sit down," Emperor Rikan said kindly, waving all of the Selection participants down. None of them actually did until the Emperor seated himself, of course. That's when they all dropped down towards their chairs.

"We are here to have fun and get to know each other today," Rikan announced in a booming voice. Raising his glass of champagne, he smiled, eyes crinkling. "I wish you the best of luck for your quest for the prince's hand. May the best lady win."

The girls enthusiastically echoed his toast, taking dainty sips of the champagne afterwards. Kai, however, was wallowing in his own sour mood. He was sure his father didn't realize what he just said, much less how it affected his own son. Emperor Rikan had basically just named him the reward at the end of the quest. An object to be obtained.

Angrily, he downed the drink in one gulp, letting the bubbles burn down his throat. _Keep your cool, Kai._ Less angrily, he set the glass down. A maid immediately filled it up again, before he could even ask.

It wasn't long before the food came out. Plates and plates of food were set before him and the others. Each of the dishes smelled heavenly, and the portion was big enough to feed two people.

Grabbing his knife and fork, Kai cut through the steak and popped the meat into his mouth. The combination of beef and sea salt melted in his mouth, the juice coating his mouth. Closing his eyes, he let himself savor the taste.

His eyes shot open when the door slammed open. _Bang_. Everybody's head swiveled towards the source of the sound. There, standing at the top of the staircase, was Queen Levana. As everyone's attention was on her, her lips slowly curled into a condescending smirk.

As slowly as she could, she glided down the staircase, her dress making it seem like she was floating above the ground. As usual, a flowy veil covered her face. Gracefully, with the help of two of her minions, she settled into a chair. And then, waving her perfectly manicured nails towards the people who were all staring at her, she had the audacity to say, "Go on." As if Levana hadn't just interrupted all of them!

But still, everybody slowly picked up their utensils, and the sounds of the knives and forks clinking together, accompanied with the polite chatter of the girls resumed. Kai was glaring at her, but when the queen's head moved towards him, he quickly looked away, focusing on the food.

He could almost feel Levana's laser smirk pointed his way, burning on the back of his neck. But again, his train of thought was cut off when his father let out a particularly loud cough. Glancing towards him in surprise, he saw his father slightly red faced, napkin covering his mouth.

"Father, do you feel fine?" Kai asked in concern, lowering his voice.

The emperor only nodded, his coughing fit still going on. After it had stopped, he answered wheezily, "I'm fine, my dear boy." He returned right to eating, so Kai followed his lead. Soon, everybody was finished with their own dishes, and now it was the time for socializing and - Kai's "favorite" part - dancing.

Of course, many of the girls shimmied right up to him, hoping for a dance partner. Being too polite, Kai accepted. From the other side of the ballroom, he saw Emperor Rikan beam when he took the girl's hands and shifted into the classic waltz position.

Then he saw Chiyoko Mori sidle up next to him and ask for a dance. Rikan was all too happy to accept. Seeing her fake smile, Kai's smile slightly faltered. But he couldn't dwell on it, as the music suddenly started. His body started to move on his own accord.

"Focus on me, my dear prince," the girl he was dancing with purred.

Kai finally noticed for the first time who his dance partner was. It was Queen Levana. He almost recoiled in both fear in disgust, but he couldn't. Too many risks came with that move. So instead, he dipped his head curtly. "Your Majesty."

"Prince Kai," she answered back smoothly. A pause. "I can see your mind is elsewhere, prince." Kai pursed his lips.

"I have no idea what you are suggesting."

Levana let out a thoughtful noise, full of disbelief. The prince chose to ignore it. "And… have you been considering my offer?"

"Not very much, I'm afraid to say," Kai said, his voice becoming tighter. The Lunar queen started to smile after reading his body language, seeing that he was starting to become uncomfortable.

"Is that so?" she purred. "It's fine. You will need assets soon enough."

Kai frowned. "What do you mean?"

Still grinning, Levana shook her head. "You, my dear, will be king soon." And then the music stopped. Leaving him on that note, she released her grip on him and dispersed into the crowd, hiding herself from the prince's eyes. Kai was still very confused, pondering over her words in his head.

Then he heard a loud thump and the chorus of gasps that soon followed. Head snapping to the right, he saw a crowd huddling around something. Voices rose. "Goodness!"

"Is he fine?"

"What happened!"

"The emperor!"

"He fainted!"

Heart thumping wildly, Kai ran over and shoved his way through the circle. "Excuse me, I'm sorry-" His ramble stopped when he reached the middle. All blood drained from his face. For there, lying on the floor, was his father.

 **Please review, dear reader! I have some news for y'all, and you can tell us what you think!**

 **The story is coming to an end!**

 **Not _that_ quick though. The last chapter will be Chapter 24, then there'll be an epilogue. Then it's onto a new AU by Canadian Bacon Unicorn! You may guess the next AU. If you get it right, you might be rewarded!**

 **Good luck, all!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Kai**

Ever since his father had fallen ill, Kai had been working himself hard to take his mind off his father. It was _obviously_ food poison, and it was _obviously_ done by Queen Levana. How else would she have known that his father was going to fall ill before it even happened?

He groaned, falling back into his office chair and stared at the other office chair. It was perhaps the most comfortable office chair that was ever made. Personally, Kai thought that if he worked in a chair like that, he would never get any work done and promptly fall asleep. He rested quite often in that chair when its occupant was absent. Now, he would do anything to have the occupant back in that chair. Even the thought of his father rebuking him for not focusing was better than the thought of never seeing him there again. Then Kai would have to move to that seat. The emperor's seat. It most certainly did not belong to him. He was all too happy with his current seat.

It used to belong to his mother, the late empress. Kai could recall faint memories of stumbling into the room while grasping his mother's hand and being lifted into her lap. Then, when he was older, he dragged a chair over to her desk to do his homework there.

His mother passed when he was fourteen.

Since then, his father wasn't the jolly father he used to be. Of course, he was still the good, just emperor he was before, but when they were away from the prying eyes of the public, he didn't smile as much as he used to. But then, the Selection started.

And his father's personality changed yet again.

Now, all he seemed to care for were political advantages. Feelings used to matter to his father, but now, they suddenly didn't.

Kai could recall when his father consented to more of his requests. Whether it be what dish they had for dinner, or what type of books Kai would like to add to their library, Rikan always listened to his son's arguments and ideas at the very least. About two-thirds of Kai's ideas were actually carried through.

And since his mother died, only about a third of them were actually listened to.

And now?

None.

Or at least, few enough that Kai had enough fingers to count all of them individually.

He tried to understand his father. Who wouldn't want the best for their empire? But again, didn't love matter as much as that? When his father had first objected to Cinder, Kai was shocked. Okay, she might not have curtsied the prettiest, but how many Sixes actually get to _learn_ to curtsy properly?

And it wasn't like she was ugly, either. She possessed a natural beauty that was accented by light makeup. She wasn't one of those girls that simply cake themselves with powder to make themselves pale. Cinder had tan skin that was, again, natural. Cinder isn't malicious, or cunning, or scheming, for stars sake!

Right?

Kai glanced at the shoe sitting on his desk. Despite how much he wanted to despise Cinder, he couldn't bring himself to do it fully. He had even begun to hope that she wouldn't be caught by the search squads his father sent out. In fact, he would've called off the search, if it wasn't for the fact that Carswell Thorne ran off with her. Carswell Thorne of all people.

The young captain had been his friend since his mother died. Carswell, just a cadet at that time, was sixteen, and a good companion for the young prince. Kai saw first-hand what Thorne called "his unbelievable skill at capturing the heart of every maiden". It was pretty true. There wasn't a maid under the age of eighteen who hadn't blushed at the carefully chosen words from the young cadet and prince. Both were, in fact, quite good looking, and both wore uniforms that flattered their build.

And now, Cinder's with Carswell, whom he had never thought of as a rival since they never took interest in the same girls. To be more accurate, Carswell was interested in every pretty girl, and Kai was interested in no one, much less the ones that Carswell associates with.

And yet, things didn't make sense. Carswell would say that if a couple looks about right together, then they have a 75% chance of actually being together. Of course, Carswell never had a serious girlfriend because he insisted none of them were a match for his looks. What if that person was Cinder though? They certainly would make a very cute couple.

But then, wouldn't Kai and Cinder?

Besides, Cinder had shown interest in him, hadn't she? All their secret conversations together held in the library with the pretense of meeting there by chance had revealed them to be very much in love with each other. When they read together in the library, the sound each other's voice was enough to soothe them. When they fell asleep after reading too long, being snuggled together on the couch gave them comfort. When they were in each other's arms, they fit together like two pieces of a missing puzzle.

"You know," said Torin suddenly from where he had been sitting in a chair, reading some documents, "if you're still thinking of Cinder Linh, I think you can go over the recorders you installed in her room."

With a jolt, Kai sat up straight again. "Right. I'd completely forgot about those." He sighed. "And to think it would be _hers_ that I'm searching through. I would've thought it would be Chiyoko's or something." He followed Torin out of the office and headed towards the main surveillance room.

He had not expected anything remotely interesting to be found in the recording, but what he discovered shocked him beyond anything he had been expecting to find out.

Twenty minutes later, he was still listening to the recording from Cinder's room.

 _"You're the missing Princess Selene."_

With shaking hands, he passed the headphones to Torin and leaned back, rubbing his eyes. Torin raised a questioning eyebrow at the prince then started to listen to the recording as well. Halfway through, his eyes bulged and he backtracked to listen to it again. He slowly took off the headphones.

Kai laughed softly. "At least we know that eloping wasn't their main purpose." Then he shot up into his seat. "Torin, do you think Lev-"

Torin nodded grimly. "I'm afraid the queen suspects something. She has inquired the girl's past, and was dismayed at the fact that we didn't have much data on her."

Kai frowned. "But how was she to know? Unless she had a super hacker to hack into my recorders, she shouldn't know anything!"

Torin shook his head. "Queen Levana has quite the personnel, you know. Besides, don't you think Miss Linh resembles the late queen?"

"Seeing as I was four when Queen Channary died, no."

"Well, the Selene you see now is a carbon copy of her."

Kai stood up. "I certainly don't doubt that she's Selene. If it was important enough that someone hacked into our systems just to tell her that she's Selene and to 'be careful', I think it's true enough." He reached for the door. "We have to tell my fath-"

"Your Highness!" A guard burst through the door, clutching his side.

Kai stood up straight. "What's the matter?"

"It's the emperor, Your Highness. They... don't think he'll last much longer." The guard bit his lip and lowered his head. "Your immediate audience was requested by His Majesty." He looked up again to escort his prince to the medical wing.

But the prince was already gone.

 **Please review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Note: the italics are put in!**

 **Chiyoko**

"So," Chiyoko drawls, picking at her perfectly manicured nails. She glances sidelong at Pearl with a cheeky yet sly grin, "We're the only two ladies left in the Selection." Pearl smiled maniacally, laughing along with the Japanese girl, although she had no idea of what Chiyoko planned earlier.

"It seems so," she giggled girlishly, making Chiyoko cringe inwardly. _It's only a few more minutes of pretending to be her friend,_ she thought, steeling her mind. _Then I'll get rid of her._ Pearl fluttered her lashes. "I must have done something to catch the prince's eye, don't you think?"

She let out another high pitched giggle. This time, Chiyoko did visibly wince, although she did hide it fairly well.

"Well, congratulations that you've made it this far," Chiyoko lied, inconspicuously walking towards the palace doors. Once she neared them, she finally let down her friendly disguise. Her sly smile broke out on her face. "Personally, I didn't think you would continue so far into the competition."

Pearl's facial expression changed to one that Chiyoko wished she could keep forever: pure horror. The Japanese girl sighed dramatically while the other froze, still in shock. "It doesn't matter anyways. It's time for you to go, my dear Pearl."

Throwing open the door, Chiyoko's personally hired guards burst into the room and flanked Pearl under the armpits, dragging her out of the palace.

"W-what- YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT!" Pearl screeched, kicking out. Even so, the guards carried her easily across the smooth, marble floor.

"That's where you're wrong, honey," Chiyoko grinned. "I've set it all up already, don't worry. As far as the rest of the country knows," she leans closer to Pearl's ear, whispering, "You stormed out because you were rejected by Prince Kai himself."

Pearl's jaw dropped to the floor. Chiyoko giggled and wiggled her fingers in a mock goodbye. "Ta ta! I hope we never cross paths again."

She closed the double doors with a sense of satisfaction.

Chiyoko was the last one left in the Selection. Stepping away from the door, she picked up the ends of her dress, lifting her chin high in the air with a triumphant grin on her face.

She would be empress.

* * *

 **Rikan**

"Emperor!" the maid cried in despair when he went into another violent coughing fit. Abandoning her sewing, she rushes forward, replacing the cloth on his forehead and helping him sit up. Once his coughing had subsided, she handed him a cup of warm water, which he took gratefully.

Frowning, the maid glanced at the doctor, who was observing the emperor grimly. He had drifted off into a state of fitful sleep, still high with fever.

"How much longer does he have?" she whispered.

The doctor lowered his head. "Not more than ten minutes, I'm afraid."

* * *

 **Kai**

The first time the prince uttered a curse word was when he was sprinting towards his father's room. He let out a string of profanities; all that was rushing through his mind was that his father was dying.

 _No_ , he harshly reminded himself. _He's not. He's going to be alive and well, if it's the last thing I do I'll make sure that he lives._ Gritting his teeth, he skidded around a corner, messing up the intricately embroidered rug. He burst through the door to his father's room.

The sight dismayed him. Around his father crowded a group of maids, sitting in the chair, wiping their tears with handkerchiefs. The doctor stood by the side of the bed, staring grimly at the sick emperor.

Shoving through the crowd rudely, Kai grabbed the doctor by the collar. The maids gasped and backed up as the prince shook him ruthlessly. He looked like he was about to murder him, but just in time, Torin came with the guards and pulled the struggling prince away from the doctor.

The doctor looked down to the floor, eyes downcast.

"I'm sorry, there was nothing we could do," he whispered to nobody in particular.

"Son," Emperor Rikan suddenly wheezed. "Don't embarrass me in front of all these people. And for the Lord's sake, stop trying to strangle the poor man." At his father's weak tone, Kai ripped himself from the hands of the guards to sit by his father's side. The maids, Torin, and the doctor took this as a cue to leave.

Once all of them had filed out the door, Rikan whispered, "Kai."

Kai forced down his tears, brushing back his father's messy, wispy, white hair. "Father."

Rikan managed to smile. "How are you doing, son?"

"Better than you," he tried to tease, even though it came out more as a choked phrase. The emperor coughed once again, although this time blood came out with it, splattering onto his chin. Kai squeezed his eyes shut, suddenly feeling sick.

Letting out another wheeze, the emperor continued, "I suppose you know I'm dying."

A lone tear dribbled down Kai's cheek. He nodded, sniffling. "Yeah." He wiped his eyes on the edge of his sleeve. "...Yeah."

Rikan smiled. "Don't cry, boy. You're going to be emperor."

Suddenly, Kai became angry. "Is that really all you're thinking about right now?" he burst out. "You're here, lying on your deathbed, and you're talking to me about being _emperor_?"

Rikan let out a shuddering laugh. "Ruling a kingdom correctly is important, is it not?" Suddenly, he became serious. "Whatever I've done in my life is to make yours, and the people's, better."

At this, Kai became silent. He took his father's hand, laying it on his lap. "The Selection is going to continue," Kai said quietly.

Rikan nodded, then hesitated before continuing. "You've chosen a lady already, am I right?" Kai nodded stiffly. "And… is her name Cinder Linh?"

After a pause, he nodded again. Rikan let out a laugh and looked out the window at the rippling field of flowers. His eyes became distant and misty. "Your mother was so much like her," he suddenly began. Kai started, staring at his father. It was very rarely that the emperor spoke of her, and he wanted to listen to whatever he had to say, so that he could cling onto whatever memory remained of his mother. "Maybe that was why I was so against her at first. It hurt to see her in Cinder."

The emperor gulped, taking another shuddering breath. His breathing was starting to become shallow, and his face had considerably paled. "But…" He turned back to face Kai with a fond smile on his face. "You really love her, don't you?" Kai nodded vigorously. The emperor hummed thoughtfully.

"True love is hard to find." Something in his tone had changed. "Maybe you've found yours." His eyes fluttered, on the verge of closing. Kai stood up abruptly, worried leaning towards him.

"Father?" he asked nervously. "Father, stay with me. Please." Out of the very few times he'd sobbed in his father's presence, this was one of them.

The emperor shook his head, then struggled to open his eyes again. "Don't worry about me." His breathing was barely noticeable now, and his words had dwindled to a whisper. Kai leaned forward to listen to what he said next, harshly rubbing the tears off his cheeks.

At last, the emperor uttered his final words.

"Go find her, my dear boy."

 **Sorry it's a bit late! Please review!**

 **We're nearing the end of the story! Please review about your ideas as to where this story is going! If you have other ideas for us, feel free to put it in the review or PM us!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Scarlet**

"Say, Thorne," said Scarlet, coming out into the cockpit where Cinder and the said captain were sitting. "Is there any food on this jet?"

Thorne shrugged. "Maybe crackers and beef jerky. Help yourself."

Scarlet stalked out of the cramped space. Though really, it was cramped everywhere on the jet. It was obviously not made with the purpose of human comfort.

She started in surprise at the sight of Wolf, the mutant soldier already sitting among the crates in the storage area, hunting through the mountains of supplies. Wolf looked up his eyes widened for a moment before he recovered.

"Hi?" he started timidly.

"Hi." Scarlet walked closer to the crates while keeping an eye on Wolf. "Find any food that we can eat? Or really, anything to kill time with."

"Umm, I found some dried fruits?"

Scarlet cheered. This was way better than what Thorne described. "Well, how about this. We eat half of this dried fruit, offer the rest to the pair in the cockpit as a peace offering or something, and then sort out these boxes."

Wolf shrugged. "Sounds about good."

They worked, opening boxes and examining the contents before pushing them into designated corners while eating some of the food they'd found. Scarlet soon discovered that Wolf ate a lot. And by a lot, she means twice as much as she eats. And Scarlet eats a lot. Perhaps more than a "proper lady" should eat. In fact, it would be safe to say that Scarlet ate almost as much as Thorne.

"Leave some for Cinder and Thorne, alright?" Scarlet reached across to pull the box away from him.

At that same moment, Wolf reached for more, and their hands collided over the box.

Scarlet froze. She looked up to see that Wolf was not moving, either. His vibrant green eyes were wide with surprise as he looked at her.

The brown eyes slowly met the green. There was an irrepressible pull between the two of them. At once, they started to move toward each other with mutual attraction.

Scarlet could almost touch him when the sound of static shocked them and they jumped apart with flushed cheeks.

"Hello? Does this work?" Cinder's voice came out of the intercom, slightly scratchy. There was a loud thumping noise before she continued again. "Scarlet, Wolf, if you can hear me, please come into the cockpit, or I'll send Thorne out searching for you." There were sounds of protest along the lines of 'I thought I was the captain' before Cinder added, "And be quick. We have a... sort of emergency."

Turning to see Wolf, who was bouncing his knee nervously and not looking at her, Scarlet marched out toward the front of the jet and heard Wolf coming after her.

When they reached the cockpit, Thorne was desperately punching away at the controls while Cinder stared off to the distance. "So, what's going on?" Scarlet started. It was strange. Thorne was frantic, but Cinder didn't seem to be worried at all.

Thorne tapped on the screen impatiently. "Our destination got locked!"

"What?" Wolf's deep voice sent a jolt through Scarlet.

"I said, our destination got locked! I can't control where we're going!"

Scarlet's eyes widened, then narrowed at Thorne. "Stars, what kind of an idiotic thing did you do this time?" She walked toward the controls. "Now I understand why Grandmere insisted on not using high tech. Because some brainless people mess it up." She shot another glare at Thorne.

"Actually," Cinder piped from her corner, "I don't think it has to do with Thorne. Someone else hijacked our jet on purpose."

If looks could kill, Cinder would've been dead at that very second. "And you're doing _nothing_ about it? You _knew_ that someone was hacking away at our computer system, and you're _still_ doing this?" Scarlet drew out a long breath. "Please don't tell me that you took us on your suicide mission."

Cinder laughed drily. "No, that wasn't my purpose. What I meant was, I have a good guess to who did this and why she did it. Besides, we're going right where we planned."

Thorne whirled around. " _You_ planned."

Cinder sighed. "Yes, _I_ planned."

"And where exactly are we going?" Wolf said suddenly.

Cinder bit her lip. "Luna." She looked out the window. "This hacker girl hacked into my TV the night the video was exposed. She told me to flee and that-" Cinder fidgeted with her fingers and took a deep breath. "That I'm Princess Selene."

The cockpit was still, as if an ice queen came and froze it with her mere presence.

"I'm sorry if I didn't tell you guys before we went on this trip." Cinder glanced at Thorne, who was gaping at her. "My plan was to go to Luna and meet with Princess Winter there to run some tests just to prove that I actually am Selene. It turns out that we have to go there anyway."

Wolf was the first to recover from shock. He lowered his head. "My loyalty is to you, Your Highness. I would bow if it wasn't for the tight space. I hope you won't hold that against me." His expression was serious, but his eyes were twinkling.

Thorne sighed.

"I'll kindly ignore your insult to my beautiful baby here, Wolf, just because we have royalty among ourselves." He turned to Cinder. "But yes, I'm with you too."

Scarlet nodded. "Then so am I."

* * *

 **Winter**

"When are they getting here again?" They'd been standing by the ports for over ten minutes now. Winter was sure she was going to evaporate anytime.

"They'll come in... two minutes," Cress replied.

Jacin grunted. "And how do we know that?"

Cress laughed. "I would've thought you had more faith in my skills than that, Jacin." She turned the tablet she was holding toward him. "You see this red dot moving? It's the Rampion jet they're on." She studied the dot again. "Besides, half an hour ago, I hacked into their computer system. They can't go anywhere else but here."

Winter glanced at Cress. "You can do anything as long as it doesn't harm Selene or anyone else on that jet."

Jacin grinned at Winter. "You think Shortie here is capable of harming anyone?"

Cress wrinkled her nose at him. "Do not call me short! Besides, I can blackmail better than anyone." She smirked at Jacin. "Want me to experiment my new skills on you, oh very tall one?"

Winter giggled, but her laughter was cut short by a jet landing half successfully on the other side of the port. "There!" She grabbed Cress by the wrist and waved for Jacin to follow. "I can't wait to meet them!"

They skipped along the pathway to the jet just in time to see the door open. Winter clutched Cress's arm. "Do you think she remembers me?" she whispered to the tiny girl.

Cress shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not, Winter. She didn't even know her true identity until I told her."

Winter sighed. "Alright." She perked up again. "But she's here!"

"And there's either someone else with her or she hasn't come at all," said Jacin from behind them.

Cress stood up straight and squinted. "Ze'ev?"

A hulking figure walked down the ship first. "Hello, Princess." He nodded at Winter. "Guard." He looked at Jacin and gave him a salute. "Damsel." He smiled at Cress, who jumped at him.

"And I get to call you Wolf!" she cried happily as he lifted her up and spun her around. "Who's this?" Cress asked, slightly embarrassed at her behavior when another man walked out.

"Captain Carswell Thorne, at your service." He winked at Cress. "And you get to call me Captain."

Cress blushed as the man moved on to kiss Winter's hand. He had blond hair with a couple of dark streaks in it and charming blue eyes. Winter thought his looks were good, but she much preferred Jacin's type of blond.

"Don't think that calling him Captain is a privilege." Winter whirled around to see two females exit the jet, shutting the door behind them. She looked at the one who said the sentence. She had red hair and pretty brown eyes. Her figure was lovely as well.

"Ah, Scarlet, you know you love me." Thorne blew a kiss in they're direction.

So the girl's name was Scarlet.

Winter turned to the last person and gasped.

For there, standing before her, was her long lost cousin Selene.

There was no doubt about it. Her brown hair was still as thin, her eyes still as intelligently brown, her skin still luxuriously tan.

"Selene!" Winter cried, running toward her, completely forgetting that her dear cousin doesn't remember her.

The girl smiled faintly and accepted the hug. "Yes, I suppose I am Selene. And you must be my beloved cousin, Winter."

Winter was not listening at all. She held her cousin at arm's length and inspected her. "You are very tall now." She smiled at her. "When I last saw you, we were stumbling around the hallways with Jacin!" She hugged her again. "Oh, I can't believe I got you back!"

Cinder, as Cress called her, bit her lip. "Um, right. See, Your Highness, your hacker here hacked into my TV when I was still in the Selection." She glanced over at Cress, who was still a bit star struck by Thorne. She cleared her throat. "She was the one to... inform me of my status. I brought along my friends-" a glance at the redhead, who was decidedly not looking at Ze'ev as he tried to get her attention, "-and decided to come here. I thought maybe you would have some tests for me to prove that I really am Selene."

Cress, who had finally torn her eyes away from Thorne and was now staring at her tablet, looked up. "I don't think that's necessary. My father, Doctor Sage Darnel, who was one of the most trusted royal doctors, had a whole file in his office labeled 'Linh Cinder'. In fact, I found this in it." She drew a piece of paper from her coat. "Princess Selene's Birth Certificate." While the others stared in shock at the document, she continued nonchalantly. "Besides, I don't think we have much time to run tests." She flashed her tablet around. Even Scarlet leaned forward for a closer look.

It was a news feed. "EMPEROR RIKAN'S DEATH: POISON?" flashed the bolded words.

Underneath as a subtitle were words even more astonishing, and all of them except Cress gasped.

For there, was the declaration of the century.

"Young Emperor Kaito announces Linh Cinder back in the Selection."

 **Wow, people, Wolflet tension, Cresswell meets, Jacinter's being cute, and Kaider's getting back together. Can I get some reviewss, pretty please with a cherry on top?**

 **Here'something to get you started: why is Scarlet angry?**


	22. Chapter 22

**Cinder**

"Are you sure Kai wants to see me?" Cinder asked, wringing her hands nervously in front of her.

Thorne snorted. "Please. The prince is head over heels for you. He would love you to death even if you murdered him."

"But he would already be dead before _anyone_ murdered him," Scarlet pointed out.

Thorne shrugged. "He'd rise from the grave just to be with her."

Smacking the captain on the back of his head, Cinder scowled. "The best we can hope for is that our jet won't be shot down by the palace guards." Thorne held his head with a puppy-dog-eyes expression. Looking out into the distance, Cinder could see the tips of the palace towers coming into view. She let out a long breath. "From there, we can keep planning."

"So we're just winging it, then?" Wolf asked around his mouthful of canned tomatoes as the juice dripped from the corners of his mouth between his sharp teeth. Cinder hesitated, but she nodded.

Wolf grinned, showing off his canine teeth. "I like it."

"We're nearing the palace," Thorne piped up, pointing ahead at the rising buildings. Their heads all swiveled towards the view. "Where do we land, Cinder?" he asked, slowing down the jet.

"Um…"

"I know a place," Scarlet interrupted. Cinder smiled at her gratefully. "Behind the palace, there is an archery field. It's gigantic, and our jet would probably be able to land there safely without crushing anybody."

Thorne nodded. "Great plan."

* * *

 **Levana**

"The last section of our plan is coming together quite neatly," the queen gloated gleefully, interlocking her fingers to illustrate what she was saying. "Now all we have to do is get rid of our last little obstacle."

"Prince Kai is currently in the astronomy observation tower," Sybil informed her.

Levana hummed thoughtfully, rising gracefully. The guards all bent to their knees, bowing down their heads as she swished past them. Turning, her bloodred lips curled into a maniacal grin. "I guess we should be heading towards that tower, then."

* * *

 **Cinder**

"Is all going to plan?" Cinder asked for the thirteenth time.

Thorne sighed in frustration. "For the last time, _yes_."

"Nothing is going to happen, Cinder," Scarlet gently chided her. "We're going to land in about two minutes. The worst that could happen is the jet crash landing and that we all die!"

"Not very comforting, but thanks," Cinder said sourly.

"Just think, you could be seeing the prince - the love of your life - in two minutes!" Scarlet continued, her eyes sparkling.

Cinder shot her a glare, but she did soften up thinking of the prince. Sighing, she conceded, "Alright. I'll try to relax."

Plopping down into a chair, she watched the tall towers of the palace whiz by as they flew towards the archery field. Cinder couldn't help but admire the beautiful scenery seen from the altitude that they were flying in.

The lush, green trees spanning the meadow, the palace towers lined with gold and sparkling stones, Queen Levana's veil rippling in the wind - wait.

Cinder shot up in her chair as she saw a glimpse of what she thought was the Lunar queen fly by. "Winter, is that your stepmother?" she asked incredulously.

Winter glanced back through the window with dreamy eyes. "Oh, her veil is just so beautiful, yet so thin. It barely hides anything," she cooed, still in her own world. Cinder's eyes widened in panic, hitting Thorne's shoulder.

"Wheel the jet around." When Thorne glanced at her questioningly, she yelled, "NOW!" Jerking the jet backwards, they changed directions, now heading back towards Queen Levana. Cinder was sure that it was her now.

Without warning, she yanked open the jet door. The jet jerked wildly, and Thorne gave a surprised shout, using all his power to keep the jet from tilting. Various items were being sucked out, including Winter. Jacin grabbed her and pulled her back inside before she could fall to her death.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Thorne roared. Cinder didn't hear. Keeping one arm looped on a metal handle, she leaned out the door, her hair whipping in her face. _I can do this,_ she thought as the tower neared. Bending her knees slightly, she tightened her leg muscles. _One... two… three.. NOW!_

Cinder jumped, but what she didn't know was that there was somebody coming right behind her. "WINTER, WHAT ARE YOU-"

 _Thump_. Tumbling in a giant pile, Cinder and Winter rolled across the length of the roof. Their elbows and knees scraped against the roof shingles, and they grunted with pain every time. In the end, they were stopped by a sharp point digging into Cinder's side.

She let out a yelp and the point jabbed in her hip, rolling her away from Winter. Cinder landed face up, the sun blinding her momentarily. However, she could make out one thing: Queen Levana's veiled face leering at her from above.

"Oh dear. Look what the cat brought in," she purred with satisfaction. Immediately, Winter and Cinder scrambled to their feet. The Lunar princess hid behind the bolder mechanic. Cinder's eyes flickered to Kinney, a guard, standing behind the queen. His face was stoic, betraying nothing, but his gun had been drawn. "How are my favorite stepdaughter and niece doing?"

"What are you doing up here?" Cinder snapped instead of answering Levana's question.

The queen barked out a laugh. "I've come to make my plan successful, but of course, here you are. It seems you are always destined to stop me, hmm?" Levana snarled.

"I'm not going to let you kill Kai," Cinder said bravely, conveniently barring the way for the queen.

Levana sighed dramatically. "Oh, look. Young love. I hope you realize soon that your relationship is going to fizzle out like a dead light bulb. You will contribute nothing to the kingdom of Commonwealth!" Levana yelled, losing her composure. Calming down, she cocks her head to the side, her lips curled in an ugly snarl. "I guess I'll just have to get rid of you." She stepped aside, turning to her guard.

"Kinney, kill them-" She was cut off as her guard suddenly pushed her towards the edge of the roof. Levana screeched as her high heel caught on one of the roof shingles, the shoe coming off as she tripped backwards, falling over the edge. But not before she grabbed Cinder's wrist and dragged her down with her.

 **Thanks for the reviews guys! I've decided to do this: if we get to 60 reviews, I'll reveal the next AU! If you review you can supply us with a name for a character (of course, they might be antagonists, please don't be offended if they do turn out bad).**

 **Come on, you gotta admit you feel a bit curious at the prospect of a new story! All you have to do is say something about this story (ex. I hop Levana dies!) and hope other people write something too! Good luck!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Cress**

"Well," said Thorne, lowering the ramp once again, "I suppose we can walk around and wait."

Jacin bolted out of the jet as soon as the ramp touched ground.

Scarlet snorted and stalked off the jet, Wolf scampering behind her, which left Cress and Thorne by themselves.

"So," Thorne started, rolling his eyes. "I suppose you won't mind if we take a tour around the gardens? I know them quite well."

Cress nearly died by the sight of his dreamy blue eyes. "Uh, yeah. Sure." She coughed awkwardly. "Of course. Captain."

Thorne grinned at her, seemingly sensing her discomfort - and liking it. "Let's go then, Damsel." He offered her his arm, which she took shyly.

She took this as an opportunity to really inspect him. She had, of course, suspected him to be in love with Ci- Selene, since there was no doubt she was pretty, just like her mother. But it has been proven just how much Selene and Prince Kaito care for each other. There was no way he and Scarlet would be in any relationship beside friends, so that left Winter, who was in love with Jacin.

Oh, that also left Cress.

But Thorne wouldn't fall in love with her, would he? She, who was barely five feet tall? Her beautiful blond hair had just been cut a couple of days ago, so that only left her eyes, which were blue, but not his kind of striking blue.

And his hair-

"Say, Cress, how're you so good at hacking?" Thorne was glancing at her with a small smile. "I, for one, am a dunce at technology." He rolled his eyes. "Although I wouldn't normally say that, but I have been trained by-" he coughed, "-certain people to suppress my ego."

Cress started, and met his eyes with a timid smile. "Well, my father was a palace doctor. I was around some of the best technology in the world. That's how they discovered I have a gift with computers." She glanced at Thorne shyly. "What about you?"

Thorne laughed. "Well. That's hardly interesting. My father worked in the palace, too, except in the Commonwealth. He was the captain of the personal guards, so I was appointed as the prince's playmate after the empress died. Since then, I've succeeded my father as Captain when he passed, and I've also learned how to fly a jet." He winked at Cress. "Which explains why I am also a captain in the Air Force." Thorne turned right at the fork in the path. "See these peonies? They were planted by the empress herself. There are rumors," said Thorne, lowering his voice, "that Prince Kai and your Princess Selene, it would seem, visited these flower beds together and picked flowers for the youngest Linh."

Cress giggled. "I can't imagine Cinder doing something so-"  
"Sappy?" Thorne smirked. He glanced at Cress again. "So, Cress, how's life in Luna? Is it beautiful there?"

Cress bit her lip. "Well, I have never left Artemisia."

Thorne raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Really? Never?"

"Never." Cress looked out at the gardens wistfully, but contently at the same time. "I was either in my house or at the royal palace."

"Alright then." Thorne glanced at Thorne again. "Haven't met many men in your life, then?"

Cress blushed and shook her head. "No. Besides my father, Jacin and Wolf are the only male close to me. Jacin and Winter are obviously for each other, though," she giggled, "they won't admit it. And Wolf was... like my older brother, just like Jacin."

Thorne nodded. "Ah, so no romantic interests?"

Her heart started up again, but she managed to keep a straight face. "None."

"Well then." Thorne turned around to face her with a grin. "I hope you won't mind me doing this?"

And suddenly, he was kissing her.

Cress felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. Here she was, having her first kiss with a gorgeous man she had fallen in love with the very moment she had laid her eyes on him.

And she was kissing him back.

They pulled away, staring into each other's eyes.

"No," Cress breathed. "I don't mind."

* * *

 **Wolf**

The girl- no, woman- walks surprisingly fast. Wolf couldn't possibly imagine why she was fleeing from him at top speed, especially since- well, the jet. That was admittedly a bit awkward, but normally, a couple would talk out the sexual tension.

Right?

Because Wolf was far from normal.

He used to be Ze'ev.

Now, only Winter calls him that, and Cress occasionally.

They'd given him the nickname when Queen Levana's scientists enhanced his hearing and smelling abilities. It was also because he had a big frame as a boy.  
He still does now, so the name stuck.

Wolf.

After all, that's how he introduces himself to everyone he meets.

Including the red-headed woman stalking off at an incredibly fast pace right now.

"Scarlet!" He tried to stop her, but either she hadn't heard him, or she's flat out ignoring him. Wolf desperately hoped it wasn't the latter. "Can you please just let me talk to you?"

She whirled around. "No." Scarlet kept on walking towards the back of the palace. So, the archery fields then.

"And why not?" Wolf was getting irritated now. "What've I done that offended you so deeply?"

Scarlet didn't even glance at him, only reaching for a bow and a quiver of arrows, heading to take her place in front of the target.

Okay, that was the last straw.

Wolf reached out and grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her to face him. "What have I done to you that you would ignore me like this?"

Scarlet merely rolled her eyes at him and turned back, preparing to shoot. "So anyone you talk to has to respond? What are you, a gangster? Is being a hybrid soldier not enough?"

Wolf clenched his teeth. "Do you think I chose to have my genes modified?"

Scarlet shrugged nonchalantly. "Who was I to know?"

"I only wanted to talk about what happened in the storage room on the jet, but how am I supposed to do that if you won't even look at me?"

Scarlet's eyes were livid. "Oh, so you want to talk about what happened? As if anything actually happened."

Green eyes narrowed at the brown. "What do you mean by that? Do you mean to say that nothing happened? Are you going to pretend that we didn't almost- almost-"

"Kiss?" Scarlet sneered at him. "I thought it meant something, and I was going to talk to you about it, but the moment we get here, some blond jumps into your arms! What am I supposed to think?"

Wolf looked at Scarlet incredulously. "What? What blond." He frowned. "I don't remember anyone jumping- oh." He smirked at Scarlet. "You mean Cress?"

"Damsel."

Wolf nodded. "So, Cress." He laughed. "She and I are just friends. We... grew up together."

Scarlet peered at him. "And how am I supposed to know how she feels? About you?"

Wolf sighed. "Well, look. I can't exactly prove to you how she feels about me. But I can tell you that I don't feel that way about her."

"Okay?" Scarlet still looked a little doubtful of Wolf and his words.

And he's had enough of that.

He leaned forward and kissed her.

Scarlet jolted in surprise, but Wolf kept a firm hold on him.

Soon, they were panting for air, Scarlet leaning against Wolf.

"So tell me, Scarlet," Wolf rumbled against her, "did you not feel something from me?"

Scarlet stood on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "I did."

 **Okay, first, thank you all for reviewing! We have surpassed the goal, so like I promised, I'll reveal the next AU!**

 **It's...**

 **A MODERN AU!**

 **Okay, I know that's very common these days, but you must know it's also a Growing Up Together AU. You'll see a lot of the Rampion Crew VS Teachers, Stupid Schoolmates, and sexual tension between your favorite ships.**

 **So once again, I have a goal for you!**

 **75 reviews for a sneak peek at the first couple of paragraphs! (Though admittedly, they might not be very interesting since nothing happened yet)**

 **ALSO, since this has the crew in a typical American school life, if you have any funny stories regarding teachers, schoolmates, and crushes, you can put them in the reviews or PM me! If we use your story, we will credit you, don't worry.**

 **(Speaking of PMs, if you have an account and didn't block private messaging, I replied to your reviews there.)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Kai**

"Um, Your Majesty," a guard murmured from behind the prince - er, emperor - well… almost emperor. Anyways, Kai turned away from the window to face the young guard.

"What is it?" he snapped. He had long lost his patience ever since his father had died.

The guard hastily bowed. "I just wanted to inform you that Queen Levana and Miss Linh were just spotted falling off a tower."

* * *

 **Cinder**

To say that Cinder was shocked to find herself falling off of a tower was an understatement. A BIG understatement. She was so surprised that she almost let herself drop off the edge like a stone statue.

Almost.

At the last second, her hand desperately shot out to grab something. Luckily - thank the stars - her fingers connected with a stone ledge. Closing her fingers around it, she barely managed to stop her fall. Before her fingers slipped, she looped her other hand around it.

With a jerk, both bodies stopped falling. She nearly lost her grip, but she held on like her life depended on it - which, it did.

Cinder made the mistake of looking down, seeing the dizzying view of the hard, cement pavement on the floor so far below. Feeling sick, she averted her eyes to Queen Levana's face.

Again, she nearly fell, because Queen Levana's face was revealed.

If this wasn't the ugliest, most horrifying thing in the world, she didn't know what it was. She was too busy gawking in horror to realize that the Lunar queen was trying to claw her way up her body to get back to safety.

Once she finally realized, she immediately shook her entire body.

With a screech, Levana flew back down, but still kept a strong grip on Cinder's ankle. "LET GO OF ME!" Cinder shrieked, shaking her legs until they felt like jelly. The queen's sharp nails dug into her leg, making her wince in pain and nearly letting go of the edge.

Gathering what was left of her strength, she twisted and turned, but Levana was about as stubborn as a bull. From all the movement and weight hanging from it, the stone ledge they were hanging from let out a sickening crack.

Both parties shut up and glanced up fearfully at the ledge, which currently had a long crack running across the middle.

"Cinder?!" a voice suddenly came from above her. Cinder's head snapped up. She knew that voice anywhere.

When she recognized his face, her face immediately lit up in a brilliant smile. "Kai!" she exclaimed. "You're here!"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Yeah. Need some help?"

Levana barked out a sharp laugh, but there was nothing funny about it. Losing his easy grin, Kai glared down at the Lunar queen. "Oh, look. The little princeling. How ironic."

"Levana," he said coolly. "I do have to say, you do look at least 50 times better with that veil on."

Levana's eyes widened in surprise, and Cinder took this moment to give her one last shake. With a loud shriek, the queen's iron grip finally let go, and she plummeted to the floor below with an ear-piercing scream that would be imprinted in Cinder's mind forever.

A loud crack echoed throughout the courtyard once her body slammed onto the pavement. Almost immediately, a large pool of blood formed around the body, which was positioned grotesquely.

Cinder managed to tear her eyes away from the scene when Kai's fingers gently encircled her wrist. His face looked as shaken as she felt. "It's over," he whispered. "She's dead."

Cinder closed her eyes with relief and whispered, "I know."

Smiling comfortingly, Kai helped his lady back onto the roof. Once her feet touched safe ground, the prince immediately crushed her against his chest. "You're here," he breathed.

Cinder lifted her head from her shoulder to smile at him. "Yes, I am."

"How did you get here?" Kai stroked her cheek, then frowned. "Do you know how worried I've been for your safety?"

Cinder sighed. "I'm sorry." She buried her face in his shoulder again.

They stood there for a few more minutes in silence, reveling in the comfort of each other.

"Cinder, I- I think I- that is to say- I love you!" Kai blurted all at once.

Cinder blushed and grinned shyly at him. "I- I love you too."

"Really?" Kai's eyes were shining.

Cinder nodded with a wide smile.

"Good." He leaned forward and kissed her softly. "Here I'd thought you'd fallen in love with Thorne and decided to elope, _Selene_."

Cinder gasped, and looked at Kai with wide eyes. "How did you know?"

"I had recorders installed in every room in case of a scandal during the Selection. Torin was the one who reminded me of them." Kai scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "And uh, I was going through yours when I heard your conversation with um… the uh, hacker girl."

Cinder nodded. "So that's why you let me back in to the Selection."

"Yes, because I figured you weren't escaping to avoid a scandal."

Cinder laughed. "You are so adorable."

"Adorably handsome and charming, you mean."

"Only if you give me one more kiss before we go down to meet up with the others."

Kai smirked at her. "Only one?"

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

 **Chiyoko**

"Guard!" Chiyoko gestured for the nearest guard on patrol. "Where is the young emperor?"

The guard bowed. "His Imperial Majesty was last seen heading for the astronomy tower at full speed, miss."

Chiyoko flicked her wrist at the guard. "Tell him that I request his presence. Here, in the Grand Room."

"Yes, mi-"

"That won't be necessary, Miss Mori." The young emperor himself was standing by the double doors, which had just been thrown open, with several others.

Chiyoko's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets before they narrowed again upon recognition of the emperor's companions. "Kai, darling, what are you doing with these- criminals?"

Kai didn't even flinch, only standing firmly beside the "criminals" and non-criminals. "I would suggest that you show more respect, Miss Mori. You are in the company of three royals."

"Three?" Chiyoko laughed. "I only see you, dear."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, rage flared in Kai's copper-brown eyes. Two men in uniform immediately stepped forward from the company.

"Bow down, you imbecile, to Their Royal Highnesses Princess Selene and Winter of Luna, before we punish you for disrespect," the taller one growled.

Chiyoko laughed. "And pray tell, where are your princesses?"

Carswell Thorne, who had been smirking the entire time, laughed as well. "Kai, who knew your girls were all so dumb?" With a signal from Thorne, the nearest two guards came and grabbed Chiyoko by the arms.

"You can't arrest me," Chiyoko hissed. "You're a criminal, as is Linh over here."

Thorne laughed heartily again. "Check again with your dear emperor. I'm officially back at the status of Captain. We just had a... misunderstanding of sorts. As for Cinder here..." He glanced at Kai, motioning for him to continue.

Kai smiled genuinely for the first time since entering the room. "Let me introduce you, Miss Mori, to Princess Selene of Luna."

Chiyoko scoffed. "Selene, you say? The very Selene that died years ago? You have got to stop telling such stupid jokes."

"If you allow it, Your Majesty," said a petite blond from the back of the group to Kai, "I can show Miss Mori the proofs we have."

"There's no need, Cress." Kai looked to Chiyoko again. "I give you one more chance, Miss Mori, to acknowledge Her Highness."

Chiyoko glared at Kai. "I will n-"

"Your Majesty!" Another guard burst through the door.

"Yes?"

"Your Majesty, it seems that we have discovered some interesting issues concerning Miss Mori, sir."

Kai raised an eyebrow at Chiyoko before looking back to the guard. "Continue."

"Well, sir, we were checking through the recorders installed in the rooms and happened to discover a conversation between Miss Mori and Miss Pearl Linh, concerning Miss Cinder Lihn. It seemed as if they'd teamed up to try and get rid of Miss Lihn."

Kai frowned. "Anything else?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. It was discovered that Miss Pearl Linh went missing. We have looked into it, and have come to the conclusion that Miss Mori had forced her out."

Kai's eyes were now livid. "What is the meaning of this, Miss Mori?" he seethed.

Chiyoko struggled against her captors. "I'm innocent, Kai! Why would I ever do that to the other girls in the Selection if I was obviously going to win?"

Kai shook his head. "I'm afraid you aren't going to win the Selection, Chiyoko. I've already made my decision."

Chiyoko sneered. "But if I recall, your good father the late emperor disapproved of your choice."

Cinder Linh- Chiyoko refused to think of her as Selene- bit her bottom lip nervously. Kai clenched his teeth.

"You do know that this girl knows nothing of the most common court courtesy? Even if she is a 'princess', as you all claim she is, she is an awkward one for sure. Would you really disappoint your father like that by choosing an unsuitable bride for the Commonwealth?"

Thorne whistled. "Low blow, miss. Low blow." But even he looked at Kai with uncertainty in his eyes.

"Ah. I see." Kai was tense, but a smile was forming over his face, lighting up his handsome features. "What you don't know, Miss Mori, is what my father actually said to me."

Chiyoko snorted. "I think everyone knows the answer."

Kai gestured at the group standing beside him. "I think these people qualify as part of 'everyone'. What say you, Scarlet?"

Scarlet glared at him. "I should hope that Cinder was approved of, but I really don't know the answer."

"I'm sure," a voice piped from the back of the group, "that the late emperor approved of Selene." Princess Winter, then.

Kai smiled at her. "Indeed. My father approved." Gasps filled the room. "You see, my father told me that the reason he seemed to dislike Selene was because she was too much like my mother. It reminds him of what he lost." Chiyoko was now glaring at Cinder, who was still looking at Kai in surprise. "So I'm sorry, Chiyoko, but I have chosen Cinder, long before I even knew she was Selene. Now, I give you one last chance to acknowledge Their Highnesses or we escort you out."

Chiyoko narrowed her eyes. "No."

"Very well then." Kai turned to Cinder. "What do you think we should do with her?"

Cinder looked at Chiyoko for quite a while. "I think it would be best," she said softly, "to just let her go back to her home."

Kai nodded. "Guards."

With a salute at the emperor, two guards dragged a struggling Chiyoko out of the room. Cinder sighed in relief as the door shut behind them with a tone of finality. "Is it finally all over?" she asked Kai.

He grinned down at Cinder. "Yes. And you, miss, are the official winner of the Selection."

 **Can you believe it? We're at the end of our journey through this AU! Next week we'll be back with the epilogue, then we might be gone for a bit while preparing our new story for you.**

 **As always, reviews make my day!**


	25. Epilogue

**Iko**

"Shoot, shoot, shoot, I'm going to be late!" Iko screeched, smoothing down her electric blue hair. Picking up the ends of her gown, she slammed open the door to the room Cinder had so generously gifted her.

And now she was going to be late for Cinder's wedding.

What a great and loyal friend she was.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot - OOF!" Iko yelped loudly as she slammed into something, toppling backwards. Before she could hit the floor, a hand shot out and grabbed onto her arm, another snaking behind her back, preventing her fall.

Slowly, Iko cracked open her eyes to be met with a pair of chocolate brown ones staring right back at her. The man's face was extremely close to hers, and Iko couldn't help but subtly check him out. There was nothing wrong with appreciating a good looking man.

"Are you hurt?"

Iko was startled back to the present by the sound of his voice - a deep baritone that rippled throughout her entire body. The blush on her face grew immensely. "U-um, no. I'm perfectly fine."

She quickly stood up, detangling herself from the handsome man's arms. A look of amusement played on the stranger's face. Iko quickly straightened her hair, clearing her throat and straightening her spine.

"I-uh, I'll have to get going now. Thanks for… helping me." Iko tried to slip around him, but he grabbed her wrist before she could run too far. She squealed as he twisted her back around to face him. The red blush on her face greatly contrasted the bright blue of her hair.

He raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "I don't believe I caught your name."

"My n-name?" Iko stuttered. _Gosh dang it, Iko! Why do you keep stuttering?_ He nodded. "Oh. I'm Iko."

"Iko," he said slowly, testing the name. Iko decided that she liked the way her name rolled off of his tongue. She liked it a lot. He flashed her a dazzling smile that had her swooning, bringing her knuckles to his lips in a flirtatious kiss. He winked at her as Iko's face heated once more.

"My name is Liam Kinney. Pleasure to meet you."

* * *

 **Cinder**

"Oh my gosh! I _cannot_ believe it! Cinder, you're getting married! Before me! What a surprise!" Scarlet gushed sarcastically. Winter and Cress pretended to wipe away fake tears behind her when Cinder gave a nice twirl, showing off her beautiful wedding dress.

Cinder rolled her eyes at her overly dramatic friends, admiring herself in the mirror. She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, nervously biting her lip. "I don't know guys," she said hesitantly, tugging down her dress. "Will Kai approve? What if he doesn't like it? What if he thinks that it's-"

"That's enough," Scarlet cut her off, slapping a hand over Cinder's mouth. "If Kai doesn't like it, I will personally see that he gets murdered, because I had to wear this god-forsaken dress for YOUR wedding, and I will NOT let that go to waste." Taking her hand off Cinder's mouth, she added, "And besides," she turned and looked straight into Cinder's eyes, "you look gorgeous, so don't worry about stupid things like that."

"Yeah," Cress nodded, fidgeting with her now-short hair. "I mean, just look at you." She gestured towards the wedding dress, which was all creamy white with rich fabrics all over. It revealed Cinder's shoulders and was low cut. The sleeves that circled her upper arm were lace and the waist was tightly cinched. The gown itself fanned out elegantly behind her.

"You're missing something though, Selene," Winter said thoughtfully. She was the only one that called her Selene, something that Cinder would definitely still have to get used to. Whipping out a diamond encrusted tiara, she gently placed it on top of Cinder's head, flipping the shimmering silk veil over her face.

"A princess always needs a crown," Winter smiled, stepping back and handing Cinder the bouquet of flowers. Cinder felt her eyes filling up with emotional tears.

"OH! NONE OF THAT!" Peony screeched, bursting through the door suddenly, almost knocking over the perfume bottles. Cinder's eyes lit up at the sight of her clumsy beloved step-sister. "THAT WILL RUIN THE MAKEUP! STOP!"

Cinder smiled affectionately towards her maid of honor, but it was cut off by the sound of the organ playing the wedding march loudly. The tune echoed through the now silent room.

"Oh! I got to go! Forgot I was the maid of honor, haha!" Peony laughed awkwardly as she gave Cinder a quick hug, dashing back out the door as fast as she had come. Nervous once again, Cinder's eyes flitted from one bridesmaid to the other.

"Well?" Scarlet asked, eyebrow cocked. "Come on. You're keeping the entire kingdom waiting." She gave her no time to prepare before she called for the guards to push the doors open. And before she knew it, the organ's volume increased as the large double doors swung open to reveal the red carpet that seemed endless, which she was supposed to walk on.

Wolf sidled up next to her. He took the place of her ever-absent father. Quirking up an eyebrow, he smirked as he offered an arm for Cinder to take. Smiling gratefully at it, Cinder slipped her arm through his.

Her eyes passed by the scattered flower petals and the crowd standing, eyes trained on her; they passed over the excited Peony standing on the sidelines. The only person she saw was Kai, smiling lovingly down at her from the podium, and without knowing, she and Wolf started forward.

Everything else faded away as she slowly walked forward to the tune of the wedding march, her arm tightly grasping Wolf's while her other hand was clutching a beautiful bouquet of flowers. When they had finally made it to the front, Wolf and Cinder calmly parted ways. Cinder startled when Cress peeled the bouquet away from her hands, placing it in Kai's. The feeling of her warm hand in his triggered a light pink blush to spread across her cheeks.

Noticing, Kai chuckled lightly, sending a playful wink Cinder's way. "Hello, beautiful," he whispered.

"H-Hi," she stuttered back, but smiling.

The priest suddenly started to speak. "We are gathered here today to witness the joining of Emperor Kai and the soon to be Empress, Princess Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn of Luna." As he started speaking, his voice faded into a distant drone.

"Don't be nervous," Kai whispered to Cinder.

Her eyebrows creased as she glared at him, then back at the huge crowd. "How can I? The entire kingdom is watching our wedding, Kai. What-what if I mess up?"

Kai chuckled slightly. "This isn't the Cinder I'm used to."

"Shut up," she hissed. Kai chuckled again.

"Don't worry. It will all be over before you know it." Sure enough, the priest turned to them.

"Emperor Kaito. Do you take Selene Blackburn to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and health, to love and cherish, until death do you part?"

"I do," he replied with no hesitation, smiling down at Cinder.

"Now, do you, Selene Blackburn, take Kaito to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and health, to love and cherish, until death do you part?"

Cinder swallowed when the priest finished speaking. _Go on_ , Kai mouthed.

"...I do," she answered after a pause.

They watched as a little boy holding a velvet cushion nestled with two beautiful diamond rings and a little girl dressed in a miniature version of Cinder's gown while holding a basket of flowers waddled down the red carpet, arm in arm, trying to match each other's pace.

When they reached the front, the girl stood to the side, smiling brightly at Cinder, as the boy offered them the velvet cushion. Nodding in dismissal at the boy, the priest plucked the rings from the velvet and handed them both to Kai and Cinder. Smiling, Kai watched as he slipped the beautiful ring onto Cinder's fourth finger.

Cinder admired the way the jewel gleamed in the light, smiling so widely that she was sure her cheeks would break.

Now it was her turn. She took Kai's hand in hers and pushed the ring onto his fourth finger.

Both grinning at each other like teenagers in love, they reconnected their hands.

"Wonderful. I now present you as husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." But the priest was ignored, because Kai had already thrown the veil to the side and dipped Cinder into a long kiss. The crowd erupted in loud cheers and whistles - the loudest coming from Captain Thorne himself.

Soon, they had to break apart for the sake of breathing, and they both straightened. "See?" Kai asked, pressing his forehead gently to Cinder's. "Everything went just as planned."

"You know, your father would be really proud of you," she whispered. A flash of sadness flickered across Kai's gaze, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"I suppose he would be," Kai answered. "After all, I am marrying the woman of my dreams."

Laughing, Cinder pressed another soft kiss to his lips and smiled. "I love you."

"Don't worry," Kai grinned. "I love you too."

 **And it's officially over! Please tell us what you think, and look for our new story! Thank you for all the support you've shown!**

 **We love you!**


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